Analysis of London Stone

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



WHEN you come to London Town,
(Grieving-grieving!)
Bring your flowers and lay them down
At the place of grieving.

When you come to London Town,
(Grieving-grieving!)
Bow your head and mourn your own,
With the others grieving.

For those minutes, let it wake
(Grieving-grieving!)
All the empty-heart and ache
That is not cured by grieving.

For those minutes, tell no lie:
(Grieving-grieving!)
'Grave, this is thy victory;
And the sting of death is grieving.'

Where's our help, from earth or heaven,
(Grieving-grieving!)
To comfort us for what we've given,
And only gained the grieving.

Heaven's too far and earth too near,
(Grieving-grieving!)
But our neighbour's standing here,
Grieving as we're grieving.

What's his burden every day?
(Grieving-grieving!)
Nothing man can count or weigh,
But loss and love's own grieving.

What is the tie betwixt us two
(Grieving-grieving!)
That must last our whole lives through?
'As I suffer, so do you.'
That may ease the grieving.


Scheme ABab ABxb cBcb xBxb dBdb xBxb eBeb fBffb
Poetic Form
Metre 1111101 1010 11100111 101110 1111101 1010 1110111 101010 1110111 1010 1010101 1111110 1110111 1010 1111100 00111110 110111110 1010 110111110 0101010 10110111 1010 1101101 101110 11101001 1010 1011111 1101110 11010111 1010 11110111 1110111 111010
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 941
Words 167
Sentences 20
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5
Lines Amount 33
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 93
Words per stanza (avg) 19
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

51 sec read
107

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his tales and poems of British soldiers in India and his tales for children. more…

All Rudyard Kipling poems | Rudyard Kipling Books

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