Laurel · Rudyard Kipling · Barrack-Room Ballads

Mandalay

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) · 1892

trochaic octameter · rhyming couplets · 52 lines · from Barrack-Room Ballads

By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:“Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!”Come you back to Mandalay,Where the old Flotilla lay:Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?On the road to Mandalay,Where the flyin'-fishes play,An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!

'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat--jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:Bloomin' idol made o'mud--Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd--Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!On the road to Mandalay...

When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing “Kulla-lo-lo!”With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin' my cheekWe useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.Elephints a-pilin' teakIn the sludgy, squdgy creek,Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!On the road to Mandalay...

But that's all shove be'ind me--long ago an' fur away,An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:“If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else.”No! you won't 'eed nothin' elseBut them spicy garlic smells,An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;On the road to Mandalay...

I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,An' the blasted Henglish drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?Beefy face an' grubby 'and--Law! wot do they understand?I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!On the road to Mandalay...

Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be--By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;On the road to Mandalay,Where the old Flotilla lay,With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!On the road to Mandalay,Where the flyin'-fishes play,An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!

Words in this poem

flotilla n.: A little fleet, or a fleet of small vessels. [Sp. flotilla, dim. of flota fleet; akin to F. flotte, It. flotta, and F. flot wave, fr. L. fluctus, but prob. influenced by words akin to E. float. See Fluctuat]
cheroot n.: A kind of cigar, originally brought from Mania, in the Philippine Islands; now often made of inferior or adulterated tabacco. [Tamil shuruttu, prop., a roll.]
idol n.: An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
budd n.: A small protuberance on the stem or branches of a plant, containing the rudiments of future leaves, flowers, or stems; an undeveloped branch or flower. [OE. budde; cf. D. bot, G. butze, butz, the core of a fruit, bud, LG. butte in hagebutte, hainbutte, a hip of the dog-rose, or OF. boton, F. bouton, bud, button,]
banjo n.: A stringed musical instrument having a head and neck like the guitar, and its body like a tambourine. It has five strings, and is played with the fingers and hands.
sunshine n.: The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
blasted a.: Blighted; withered.
drizzle v. i.: To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. [Prop. freq. of AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]
beefy a.: Having much beef; of the nature of beef; resembling beef; fleshy.
grubby a.: Dirty; unclean. [From Grub.]
cleaner n.: One who, or that which, cleans.
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Mandalay 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, Mandalay, in Barrack-Room Ballads (1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2819, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-barrack-room/mandalay.html, id L04497.

Form and metre

Mandalay is 52 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, as Wikipedia: Mandalay (poem) has it. 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.9 syllables. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.

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 AABBBBBBBB sea^A · me^A · say^B · mandalay^B · mandalay^B · lay^B · mandalay^B · mandalay^B · play^B · bay^B
2 AABB-CC- green^A · queen^A · cheroot^B · foot^B · o'mud · budd^C · stud^C · mandalay
3 AABBBBB- slow^A · lo^A · cheek^B · teak^B · teak^B · creek^B · speak^B · mandalay
4 AABCCBBA away^A · mandalay^A · tells^B · else^C · else^C · smells^B · bells^B · mandalay^A
5 AABBBBB- stones^A · bones^A · strand^B · understand^B · and^B · understand^B · land^B · mandalay
6 AABBCCCCCC worst^A · thirst^A · be^B · sea^B · mandalay^C · lay^C · mandalay^C · mandalay^C · play^C · bay^C

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 trochaic octameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,	15	·····˘/˘/˘/˘···
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;	15	··/˘···········
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:	15	··········/˘···
“Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!”	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
Come you back to Mandalay,	7	····/˘·
Where the old Flotilla lay:	7	···˘/˘·
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?	15	····/˘···˘/·/˘·
On the road to Mandalay,	7	····/˘·
Where the flyin'-fishes play,	6	···/˘·
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!	15	······/˘/˘/˘···
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,	14	·/˘······/˘···
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat--jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,	15	···············
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,	15	·············˘/
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
Bloomin' idol made o'mud--	7	··/˘···
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd--	7	·······
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!	15	/˘····/˘·······
On the road to Mandalay...	7	····/˘·
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,	15	···············
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing “Kulla-lo-lo!”	14	···/˘/····/˘··
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin' my cheek	15	······/˘···˘/··
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.	15	······/˘·······
Elephints a-pilin' teak	7	·······
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,	7	··/˘···
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!	15	··/˘·······˘/··
On the road to Mandalay...	7	····/˘·
But that's all shove be'ind me--long ago an' fur away,	13	·······˘/··˘/
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;	15	····/˘/˘····/˘·
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:	15	······/˘····/˘·
“If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else.”	15	··········/˘···
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else	7	····/˘·
But them spicy garlic smells,	7	··/˘/˘·
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;	15	··/·········/˘·
On the road to Mandalay...	7	····/˘·
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,	15	······/˘··/˘/˘·
An' the blasted Henglish drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,	16	····/˘···/˘/˘···
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?	15	······/˘·····˘/
Beefy face an' grubby 'and--	7	/˘··/˘·
Law! wot do they understand?	7	·····˘/
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!	15	··/˘/˘/˘··/˘/˘·
On the road to Mandalay...	7	····/˘·
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,	15	··/···/˘·······
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;	16	··/˘··˘/˘·······
For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be--	15	··/˘···········
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;	15	·····˘/˘/˘/˘···
On the road to Mandalay,	7	····/˘·
Where the old Flotilla lay,	7	···˘/˘·
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!	16	·/˘····/˘····/˘·
On the road to Mandalay,	7	····/˘·
Where the flyin'-fishes play,	6	···/˘·
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!	15	······/˘/˘/˘···

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.

More by Rudyard Kipling

Barrack-Room Ballads Verses 1889–1896