The Miracles

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



I sent a message to my dear --
 A thousand leagues and more to Her --
The dumb sea-levels thrilled to hear,
 And Lost Atlantis bore to Her.
 
Behind my message hard I came,
 And nigh had found a grave for me;
But that I launched of steel and flame
 Did war against the wave for me.
 
Uprose the deep, by gale on gale,
 To bid me change my mind again --
He broke his teeth along my rail,
 And, roaring, swung behind again.
 
I stayed the sun at noon to tell
 My way across the waste of it;
I read the storm before it fell
 And made the better haste of it.
 
Afar, I hailed the land at night --
 The towers I built had heard of me --
And, ere my rocket reached its height,
 Had flashed my Love the word of me.
 
Earth sold her chosen men of strength
 (They lived and strove and died for me)
To drive my road a nation's length,
 And toss the miles aside for me.
 
I snatched their toil to serve my needs --
 Too slow their fleetest flew for me --
I tired twenty smoking steeds,
 And bade them bait a new for me.
 
I sent the lightnings forth to see
 Where hour by hour She waited me.
Among ten million one was She,
 And surely all men hated me!
 
Dawn ran to meet me at my goal --
 Ah, day no tongue shall tell again!
And little folk of little soul
 Rose up to buy and sell again!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:18 min read
81

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BCBC DEDE FGFG HCHC ICIC JCJC CCCC KEKE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,242
Words 261
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 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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