The Song of the Little Hunter

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



Ere Mor the Peacock flutters, ere the Monkey People cry,
  Ere Chil the Kite swoops down a furlong sheer,
Through the Jungle very softly flits a shadow and a sigh--
  He is Fear, O Little Hunter, he is Fear!            
Very softly down the glade runs a waiting, watching shade,
  And the whisper spreads and widens far and near.
And the sweat is on thy brow, for he passes even now--
  He is Fear, O Little Hunter, he is Fear!

Ere the moon has climbed the mountain, ere the rocks are ribbed with light,
  When the downward-dipping trails are dank and drear,
Comes a breathing hard behind thee--snuffle-snuffle through the night--
  It is Fear, O Little Hunter  it is Fear,  
On thy knees and draw the bow; bid the shrilling arrow go;
  In the empty, mocking thicket plunge the spear!
But thy hands are loosed and weak, and the blood has left thy cheek--              
  It is Fear, O Little Hunter, it is Fear!

When the heat-cloud sucks the tempest, when the slivered pine-trees fall,
  When the blinding, blaring rain-squalls lash and veer,
Through the war-gongs of the thunder rings a voice more loud than all--
  It is Fear, O Little Hunter, it is Fear!
Now the spates are banked and deep; now the footless boulders leap--
  Now the lightning shows each littlest leaf--rib clear--
But thy throat is shut and dried, and thy heart against thy side
  Hammers: Fear, O Little Hunter--this is Fear!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:13 min read
133

Quick analysis:

Scheme abaBxbxB cacbxbxB dbdBxbxb
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,384
Words 245
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

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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