The Choice (The American Spirit Speaks)

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



To the Judge of Right and Wrong
With Whom fulfillment lies
Our purpose and our power belong,
Our faith and sacrifice.

Let Freedom's land rejoice!
Our ancient bonds are riven;
Once more to us the eternal choice
Of good or ill is given.

Not at a little cost,
Hardly by prayer or tears,
Shall we recover the road we lost
In the drugged and doubting years,

But after the fires and the wrath,
But after searching and pain,
His Mercy opens us a path
To live with ourselves again.

In the Gates of Death rejoice!
We see and hold the good-
Bear witness, Earth, we have made our choice
For Freedom's brotherhood.

Then praise the Lord Most High
Whose Strength hath saved us whole,
Who bade us choose that the Flesh should die
And not the living Soul!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

42 sec read
292

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BCBC XXXX DXDX BEBE FGFG
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 724
Words 140
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

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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