This Month the Almonds Bloom at Kandahar
I hate this City, seated on the Plain,The clang and clamour of the hot Bazar,Knowing, amid the pauses of my pain,This month the Almonds bloom in Kandahar.
The Almond-trees, that sheltered my Delight,Screening my happiness as evening fell.It was well worth--that most Enchanted Night--This life in torment, and the next in Hell!
People are kind to me; one More than Kind,Her lashes lie like fans upon her cheek,But kindness is a burden on my mind,And it is weariness to hear her speak.
For though that Kaffir's bullet holds me here,My thoughts are ever free, and wander far,To where the Lilac Hills rise, soft and clear,Beyond the Almond Groves of Kandahar.
He followed me to Sibi, to the Fair,The Horse-fair, where he shot me weeks ago,But since they fettered him I have no careThat my returning steps to health are slow.
They will not loose him till they know my fate,And I rest here till I am strong to slay,Meantime, my Heart's Delight may safely waitAmong the Almond blossoms, sweet as they.
That cursed Kaffir! Well, he won by day,But I won, what I so desired, by night,My arms held what his lack till Judgment Day!Also, the game is not yet over--quite!
Wait, Amir Ali, wait till I come forthTo kill, before the Almond-trees are green,To raze thy very Memory from the North,So that thou art not, and thou hast not been!
Aha! Friend Amir Ali! it is DutyTo rid the World from Shiah dogs like thee,They are but ill-placed moles on Islam's beauty,Such as the Faithful cannot calmly see!
Also thy bullet hurts me not a little,Thy Shiah blood might serve to salve the ill.Maybe some Afghan Promises are brittle;Never a Promise to oneself, to kill!
Now I grow stronger, I have days of leisureTo shape my coming Vengeance as I lie,And, undisturbed by call of War or Pleasure,Can dream of many ways a man may die.
I shall not torture thee, thy friends might rally,Some Fate assist thee and prove false to me;Oh! shouldst thou now escape me, Amir Ali,This would torment me through Eternity!
Aye, Shuffa-Jan, I will be quiet indeed,Give here the Hakim's powder if thou wilt,And thou mayst sit, for I perceive thy need,And rest thy soft-haired head upon my quilt.
Thy gentle love will not disturb a mindThat loves and hates beneath a fiercer Star.Also, thou know'st, my Heart is left behind,Among the Almond-trees of Kandahar!
Words in this poem
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- clamour n.
- A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
- bazar n.
- In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale. [Per. bazar market.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- raze n.
- A Shakespearean word (used once) supposed to mean the same as race, a root. [See Rack.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- afghan a.
- Of or pertaining to Afghanistan.
- oneself pron.
- A reflexive form of the indefinite pronoun one. Commonly writen as two words, one's self.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- rally v. t.
- To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
This Month the Almonds Bloom at Kandahar is in the public domain. This text is taken from India's Love Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #8197; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Laurence Hope, This Month the Almonds Bloom at Kandahar, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/this-month-the-almonds-bloom-at-kandahar.html, id L22644.
Form and metre
This Month the Almonds Bloom at Kandahar is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 11 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB plainA · bazarB · painA · kandaharB
- 2 ABAB delightA · fellB · nightA · hellB
- 3 ABAB kindA · cheekB · mindA · speakB
- 4 A-AA hereA · far · clearA · kandaharA
- 5 ABAB fairA · agoB · careA · slowB
- 6 ABAB fateA · slayB · waitA · theyB
- 7 ABAB dayA · nightB · dayA · quiteB
- 8 A-A- forthA · green · northA · been
- 9 ABAB dutyA · theeB · beautyA · seeB
- 10 ABAB littleA · illB · brittleA · killB
- 11 ABAB leisureA · lieB · pleasureA · dieB
- 13 ABAB indeedA · wiltB · needA · quiltB
- 14 ABAB mindA · starB · behindA · kandaharB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I hate this City, seated on the Plain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The clang and clamour of the hot Bazar, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Knowing, amid the pauses of my pain, | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| This month the Almonds bloom in Kandahar. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| The Almond-trees, that sheltered my Delight, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Screening my happiness as evening fell. | 10 | /˘·/˘˘·/˘· |
| It was well worth--that most Enchanted Night-- | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| This life in torment, and the next in Hell! | 10 | ···/······ |
| People are kind to me; one More than Kind, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Her lashes lie like fans upon her cheek, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But kindness is a burden on my mind, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And it is weariness to hear her speak. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| For though that Kaffir's bullet holds me here, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| My thoughts are ever free, and wander far, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To where the Lilac Hills rise, soft and clear, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Beyond the Almond Groves of Kandahar. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| He followed me to Sibi, to the Fair, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The Horse-fair, where he shot me weeks ago, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| But since they fettered him I have no care | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That my returning steps to health are slow. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| They will not loose him till they know my fate, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I rest here till I am strong to slay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Meantime, my Heart's Delight may safely wait | 10 | /···˘/·/˘· |
| Among the Almond blossoms, sweet as they. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| That cursed Kaffir! Well, he won by day, | 10 | ··˘······· |
| But I won, what I so desired, by night, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| My arms held what his lack till Judgment Day! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Also, the game is not yet over--quite! | 10 | /˘········ |
| Wait, Amir Ali, wait till I come forth | 10 | ·˘//˘····· |
| To kill, before the Almond-trees are green, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To raze thy very Memory from the North, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| So that thou art not, and thou hast not been! | 10 | ·········· |
| Aha! Friend Amir Ali! it is Duty | 11 | ·/·˘//˘··/˘ |
| To rid the World from Shiah dogs like thee, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They are but ill-placed moles on Islam's beauty, | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| Such as the Faithful cannot calmly see! | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Also thy bullet hurts me not a little, | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Thy Shiah blood might serve to salve the ill. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Maybe some Afghan Promises are brittle; | 11 | /˘·/·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Never a Promise to oneself, to kill! | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| Now I grow stronger, I have days of leisure | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| To shape my coming Vengeance as I lie, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And, undisturbed by call of War or Pleasure, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Can dream of many ways a man may die. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I shall not torture thee, thy friends might rally, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Some Fate assist thee and prove false to me; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Oh! shouldst thou now escape me, Amir Ali, | 11 | ····˘/·˘//˘ |
| This would torment me through Eternity! | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| Aye, Shuffa-Jan, I will be quiet indeed, | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Give here the Hakim's powder if thou wilt, | 10 | ···˘//˘··· |
| And thou mayst sit, for I perceive thy need, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And rest thy soft-haired head upon my quilt. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy gentle love will not disturb a mind | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| That loves and hates beneath a fiercer Star. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Also, thou know'st, my Heart is left behind, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Among the Almond-trees of Kandahar! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.