For to Admire
The Injian Ocean sets an' smilesSo sof', so bright, so bloomin' blue;There aren't a wave for miles an' milesExcep' the jiggle from the screw.The ship is swep', the day is done,The bugle's gone for smoke and play;An' black agin' the settin' sunThe Lascar sings, “Hum deckty hai!”
For to admire an' for to see,For to be'old this world so wide--It never done no good to me,But I can't drop it if I tried!
I see the sergeants pitchin' quoits,I 'ear the women laugh an' talk,I spy upon the quarter-deckThe orficers an' lydies walk.I thinks about the things that was,An' leans an' looks acrost the sea,Till spite of all the crowded shipThere's no one lef' alive but me.
The things that was which I 'ave seen,In barrick, camp, an' action too,I tells them over by myself,An' sometimes wonders if they're true;For they was odd--most awful odd--But all the same now they are o'er,There must be 'eaps o' plenty such,An' if I wait I'll see some more.
Oh, I 'ave come upon the books,An' frequent broke a barrick rule,An' stood beside an' watched myselfBe'avin' like a bloomin' fool.I paid my price for findin' out,Nor never grutched the price I paid,But sat in Clink without my boots,Admirin' 'ow the world was made.
Be'old a crowd upon the beam,An' 'umped above the sea appearsOld Aden, like a barrick-stoveThat no one's lit for years an' years!I passed by that when I began,An' I go 'ome the road I came,A time-expired soldier-manWith six years' service to 'is name.
My girl she said, “Oh, stay with me!”My mother 'eld me to 'er breast.They've never written none, an' soThey must 'ave gone with all the rest--With all the rest which I 'ave seenAn' found an' known an' met along.I cannot say the things I feel,And so I sing my evenin' song:
For to admire an' for to see,For to be'old this world so wide--It never done no good to me,But I can't drop it if I tried!
Words in this poem
- jiggle v. i.
- To wriggle or frisk about; to move awkwardly; to shake up and down. [Freq. of jig.]
- lascar n.
- A native sailor, employed in European vessels; also, a menial employed about arsenals, camps, camps, etc.; a camp follower. [East Indies] [Per. & Hind. lashkar an army, an inferior artillery man, a cooly, a native sailor.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- clink v. t.
- To cause to give out a slight, sharp, tinkling, sound, as by striking metallic or other sonorous bodies together. [OE. clinken; akin to G. klingen, D. klinken, SW. klinga, Dan. klinge; prob. of imitative origin. Cf. Clank, Clench, Click, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For to Admire is in the public domain. This text is taken from Barrack-room ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #2819; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, For to Admire, in Barrack-Room Ballads (1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2819, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-barrack-room/for-to-admire.html, id L04512.
Form and metre
For to Admire is 56 lines in 8 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABC-C- smilesA · blueB · milesA · screwB · doneC · play · sunC · hai
- 2 ABAB seeA · wideB · meA · triedB
- 3 -A-A-B-B quoits · talkA · deck · walkA · was · seaB · ship · meB
- 4 -A-A---- seen · tooA · myself · trueA · odd · o'er · such · more
- 5 -A-A-B-B books · ruleA · myself · foolA · out · paidB · boots · madeB
- 6 -A-ABCBC beam · appearsA · stove · yearsA · beganB · cameC · manB · nameC
- 7 -A-A-B-B me · breastA · so · restA · seen · alongB · feel · songB
- 8 ABAB seeA · wideB · meA · triedB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Injian Ocean sets an' smiles | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So sof', so bright, so bloomin' blue; | 8 | ········ |
| There aren't a wave for miles an' miles | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Excep' the jiggle from the screw. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The ship is swep', the day is done, | 8 | ········ |
| The bugle's gone for smoke and play; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' black agin' the settin' sun | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The Lascar sings, “Hum deckty hai!” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For to admire an' for to see, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For to be'old this world so wide-- | 7 | ······· |
| It never done no good to me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But I can't drop it if I tried! | 8 | ········ |
| I see the sergeants pitchin' quoits, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I 'ear the women laugh an' talk, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I spy upon the quarter-deck | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The orficers an' lydies walk. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I thinks about the things that was, | 8 | ········ |
| An' leans an' looks acrost the sea, | 8 | ········ |
| Till spite of all the crowded ship | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There's no one lef' alive but me. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The things that was which I 'ave seen, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| In barrick, camp, an' action too, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I tells them over by myself, | 8 | ·······/ |
| An' sometimes wonders if they're true; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| For they was odd--most awful odd-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But all the same now they are o'er, | 8 | ········ |
| There must be 'eaps o' plenty such, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' if I wait I'll see some more. | 8 | ········ |
| Oh, I 'ave come upon the books, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| An' frequent broke a barrick rule, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' stood beside an' watched myself | 8 | ··˘/···/ |
| Be'avin' like a bloomin' fool. | 7 | /˘····· |
| I paid my price for findin' out, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor never grutched the price I paid, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But sat in Clink without my boots, | 8 | ········ |
| Admirin' 'ow the world was made. | 8 | ········ |
| Be'old a crowd upon the beam, | 7 | ······· |
| An' 'umped above the sea appears | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Old Aden, like a barrick-stove | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That no one's lit for years an' years! | 8 | ········ |
| I passed by that when I began, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| An' I go 'ome the road I came, | 8 | ········ |
| A time-expired soldier-man | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| With six years' service to 'is name. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My girl she said, “Oh, stay with me!” | 8 | ········ |
| My mother 'eld me to 'er breast. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They've never written none, an' so | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| They must 'ave gone with all the rest-- | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| With all the rest which I 'ave seen | 9 | ······/˘· |
| An' found an' known an' met along. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I cannot say the things I feel, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And so I sing my evenin' song: | 9 | ········· |
| For to admire an' for to see, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For to be'old this world so wide-- | 7 | ······· |
| It never done no good to me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But I can't drop it if I tried! | 8 | ········ |
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.