The Vineyard

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



At the eleventh hour he came,
But his wages were the same
As ours who all day long had trod
The wine-press of the Wrath of God.

When he shouldered through the lines
Of our cropped and mangled vines,
His unjaded eye could scan
How each hour had marked its man.

(Children of the morning-tide
With the hosts of noon died,
And our noon contingents lay
Dead with twilight's spent array.)

Since his back had felt no load ,
Virtue still in him abode;
So he swiftly made his own
Those last spoils we had not won.

We went home delivered thence,
Grudging him no recompense
Till he portioned praise of blame
To our works before he came.

Till he showed us for our good--
  Deaf to mirth, and blind to scorn--
How we might have best withstood
  Burdens that he had not born!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

44 sec read
177

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGXX HHAA IJIJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 748
Words 146
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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