Analysis of Two Months

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



No hope, no change! The clouds have shut us in,
  And through the cloud the sullen Sun strikes down
  Full on the bosom of the tortured Town,
Till Night falls heavy as remembered sin
That will not suffer sleep or thought of ease,
  And, hour on hour, the dry-eyed Moon in spite
  Glares through the haze and mocks with watery light
The torment of the uncomplaining trees.
Far off, the Thunder bellows her despair
To echoing Earth, thrice parched. The lightnings fly
In vain. No help the heaped-up clouds afford,
But wearier weight of burdened, burning air.
What truce with Dawn? Look, from the aching sky,
Day stalks, a tyrant with a flaming sword!

At dawn there was a murmur in the trees,
  A ripple on the tank, and in the air
  Presage of coming coolness -- everywhere
A voice of prophecy upon the breeze.
Up leapt the Sun and smote the dust to gold,
  And strove to parch anew the heedless land,
All impotently, as a King grown old
  Wars for the Empire crumbling 'neath his hand.
  One after one the lotos-petals fell,
  Beneath the onslaught of the rebel year,
  In mutiny against a furious sky;
  And far-off Winter whispered: -- "It is well!
  "Hot Summer dies. Behold your help is near,
  "For when men's need is sorest, then come I."


Scheme ABBACDDCEFGEFG CEECHIHIJKFJKF
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011110 0101010111 1101010101 1111010101 1111011111 010110011101 11010111001 011011 1101010001 11001110101 0111011101 111110101 1111110101 1101010101 1111010001 0101010001 101101010 0111000101 1101010111 011101011 1110111 110100100111 110101101 010110101 01000101001 0111010111 1101011111 111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,237
Words 227
Sentences 13
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 14, 14
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 472
Words per stanza (avg) 111
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:08 min read
119

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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