Analysis of Soldier An' Sailor Too
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
As I was spittin' into the Ditch aboard o' the ~Crocodile~,
I seed a man on a man-o'-war got up in the Reg'lars' style.
'E was scrapin' the paint from off of 'er plates,
an' I sez to 'im, ''Oo are you?'
Sez 'e, 'I'm a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!'
Now 'is work begins by Gawd knows when, and 'is work is never through;
'E isn't one o' the reg'lar Line, nor 'e isn't one of the crew.
'E's a kind of a giddy harumfrodite -- soldier an' sailor too!
An' after I met 'im all over the world, a-doin' all kinds of things,
Like landin' 'isself with a Gatlin' gun to talk to them 'eathen kings;
'E sleeps in an 'ammick instead of a cot,
an' 'e drills with the deck on a slew,
An' 'e sweats like a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!
For there isn't a job on the top o' the earth the beggar don't know, nor do --
You can leave 'im at night on a bald man's 'ead, to paddle 'is own canoe --
'E's a sort of a bloomin' cosmopolouse -- soldier an' sailor too.
We've fought 'em in trooper, we've fought 'em in dock,
and drunk with 'em in betweens,
When they called us the seasick scull'ry-maids,
an' we called 'em the Ass Marines;
But, when we was down for a double fatigue, from Woolwich to Bernardmyo,
We sent for the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
They think for 'emselves, an' they steal for 'emselves,
and they never ask what's to do,
But they're camped an' fed an' they're up an' fed before our bugle's blew.
Ho! they ain't no limpin' procrastitutes -- soldier an' sailor too.
You may say we are fond of an 'arness-cut, or 'ootin' in barrick-yards,
Or startin' a Board School mutiny along o' the Onion Guards;
But once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to view,
The same as the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
They come of our lot, they was brothers to us;
they was beggars we'd met an' knew;
Yes, barrin' an inch in the chest an' the arm, they was doubles o' me an' you;
For they weren't no special chrysanthemums -- soldier an' sailor too!
To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about,
Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout;
But to stand an' be still to the ~Birken'ead~ drill
is a damn tough bullet to chew,
An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies --
soldier an' sailor too!
Their work was done when it 'adn't begun; they was younger nor me an' you;
Their choice it was plain between drownin' in 'eaps
an' bein' mopped by the screw,
So they stood an' was still to the ~Birken'ead~ drill, soldier an' sailor too!
We're most of us liars, we're 'arf of us thieves,
an' the rest are as rank as can be,
But once in a while we can finish in style
(which I 'ope it won't 'appen to me).
But it makes you think better o' you an' your friends,
an' the work you may 'ave to do,
When you think o' the sinkin' ~Victorier~'s Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!
Now there isn't no room for to say ye don't know --
they 'ave proved it plain and true --
That whether it's Widow, or whether it's ship, Victorier's work is to do,
An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies --
soldier an' sailor too!
Scheme | aabccccc ddxccccc xexeccbccc ffccxccc ggxcHCcbcc xiaixccxccHC |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101011010 1101101111100111 1110111101 11111111 111010010010101101 1110111110111101 11011011111101101 10110101101101 11011111001011111 110110101111111 1101101101 111101101 1111010010010101101 1110011011010101111 111111101111101101 1011011101101 11101011101 0111001 11110111 11110101 111111010011111 111010010010101101 111111111 01101111 1111111111011011 111111101101 1111111111110101 110111000110101 1100111100110110111 011010010010101101 111101111011 11101111 111100110111101111 11101100100101101 1111001101110101 11011111010111111 1111111011 10111011 1111010010010 101101 11111110111101111 1111101101 111101 1111111011101101 11111011111 101111111 11001111001 11111111 111111011111 10111111 1111011110101101 111011111111 1111101 1101101101111111 1111010010010 101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 3,173 |
Words | 628 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 10, 8, 10, 12 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 382 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 104 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 3:20 min read
- 585 Views
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"Soldier An' Sailor Too" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33341/soldier-an%27-sailor-too>.
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