‘Et Dona Ferentes’
In extended observation of the ways and works of man,From the Four-mile Radius roughly to the plains of Hindustan:I have drunk with mixed assemblies, seen the racial ruction rise,And the men of half creation damning half creation’s eyes.
I have watched them in their tantrums, all that pentecostal crew,French, Italian, Arab, Spaniard, Dutch and Greek, and Russ and Jew,Celt and savage, buff and ochre, cream and yellow, mauve and white,But it never really mattered till the English grew polite;
Till the men with polished toppers, till the men in long frock-coats,Till the men that do not duel, till the men who fight with votes,Till the breed that take their pleasures as Saint Laurence took hisgrid,Began to ‘beg your pardon’ and--the knowing croupier hid.
Then the bandsmen with their fiddles, and the girls that bring thebeer,Felt the psychologic moment, left the lit casino clear;But the uninstructed alien, from the Teuton to the Gaul,Was entrapped, once more, my country, by that suave, deceptivedrawl.
As it was in ancient Suez or ’neath wilder, milder skies,I ‘observe with apprehension’ when the racial ructions rise;And with keener apprehension, if I read the times aright,Hear the old casino order: ‘Watch your man, but be polite.
‘Keep your temper. Never answer (that was why they spat and swore).Don’t hit first, but move together (there’s no hurry) to the door.Back to back, and facing outward while the linguist tells ’em how--"Nous sommes allong à notre batteau, nous ne voulong pas un row."’
So the hard, pent rage ate inward, till some idiot went too far ...‘Let ’em have it!’ and they had it, and the same was serious war.Fist, umbrella, cane, decanter, lamp and beer-mug, chair and boot--Till behind the fleeing legions rose the long, hoarse yell for loot.
Then the oil-cloth with its numbers, as a banner fluttered free;Then the grand piano cantered, on three castors, down the quay;White, and breathing through their nostrils, silent, systematic,swift--They removed, effaced, abolished all that man could heave or lift.
Oh, my country, bless the training that from cot to castle runs--The pitfall of the stranger but the bulwark of thy sons--Measured speech and ordered action, sluggish soul and unperturbed,Till we wake our Island-Devil--nowise cool for being curbed!
When the heir of all the ages ‘has the honour to remain,’When he will not hear an insult, though men make it ne’er so plain,When his lips are schooled to meekness, when his back is bowed toblows--Well the keen aas-vogels know it--well the waiting jackal knows.
Build on the flanks of Etna where the sullen smoke-puffs float--Or bathe in tropic waters where the lean fin dogs the boat--Cock the gun that is not loaded, cook the frozen dynamite--But oh, beware my country, when my country grows polite!
Words in this poem 32
- racial a.
- Of or pertaining to a race or family of men; as, the racial complexion.
- ruction n.
- An uproar; a quarrel; a noisy outbreak.
- damning a.
- That damns; damnable; as, damning evidence of guilt.
- pentecostal a.
- Of or pertaining to Pentecost or to Whitsuntide.
- spaniard n.
- A native or inhabitant of Spain.
- russ n.
- A Russian, or the Russians.
- polite a.
- Smooth; polished. [L. politus, p. p. of polire to polish: cf. F. poli. See Polish, v.]
- grid n.
- A grating of thin parallel bars, similar to a gridiron.
- croupier n.
- One who presides at a gaming table and collects the stakes. [F.; prop., one who sits on the croup, and hence, in the second place; an assistant. See 1st Croup.]
- psychologic a.
- Of or pertaining to psychology. See Note under Psychic. [Cf. F. psychologique.]
- casino n.
- A small country house. [It. casino, dim. of casa house, fr. L. casa cottage. Cf. Cassing.]
- suave a.
- Sweet; pleasant; delightful; gracious or agreeable in manner; bland. [L. suavis sweet, pleasant: cf. F. suave. See Sweet, and cf. Suasion.]
- drawl v. t.
- To utter in a slow, lengthened tone. [Prob. fr. draw: cf. D. dralen to linger, tarry, Icel. dralla to loiter. See Draw, and cf. Draggle.]
- keener n.
- A professional mourner who wails at a funeral. [Ireland]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- spat n.
- A young oyster or other bivalve mollusk, both before and after it first becomes adherent, or such young, collectively. [From the root of spit; hence, literally, that which is ejected.]
- linguist n.
- A master of the use of language; a talker. [L. lingua tongue, speech, language: cf. F. linguiste.]
- nous n.
- Intellect; understanding; talent; -- used humorously.
- notre n.
- One who takes notice.
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- idiot n.
- A man in private station, as distinguished from one holding a public office. [F. idiot, L. idiota an uneducated, ignorant, ill- informed person, Gr. Idiom.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- decanter n.
- A vessel used to decant liquors, or for receiving decanted liquors; a kind of glass bottle used for holding wine or other liquors, from which drinking glasses are filled.
- loot n.
- The act of plundering. [Hind. l, Skr. l, l, booty, lup to break, spoil; prob. akin to E. rob.]
- quay n.
- A mole, bank, or wharf, formed toward the sea, or at the side of a harbor, river, or other navigable water, for convenience in loading and unloading vessels. [F. quai. See Key quay.]
- pitfall n.
- A pit deceitfully covered to entrap wild beasts or men; a trap of any kind. Sir T. North.
- bulwark n.
- A rampart; a fortification; a bastion or outwork. [Akin to D. bolwerk, G. bollwerk, Sw. bolwerk, Dan. bolvärk, bulvärk, rampart; akin to G. bohle plank, and werk work, defense. See Bole stem, and Work, n., and c]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- etna n.
- A kind of small, portable, cooking apparatus for which heat is furnished by a spirit lamp.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
‘Et Dona Ferentes’ is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Five Nations, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #60260; 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, ‘Et Dona Ferentes’, in The Five Nations, Volume I (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60260, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-1/et-dona-ferentes.html, id L20245.
Form and metre
‘Et Dona Ferentes’ is 49 lines in 11 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 61% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AABB manA · hindustanA · riseB · eyesB
- 2 AABB crewA · jewA · whiteB · politeB
- 3 AA-BB coatsA · votesA · his · gridB · hidB
- 4 -AAB-B the · beerA · clearA · gaulB · deceptive · drawlB
- 5 AA-- skiesA · riseA · aright · polite
- 6 AA-- sworeA · doorA · how · row
- 7 --AA far · war · bootA · lootA
- 8 AA-BB freeA · quayA · systematic · swiftB · liftB
- 9 AABB runsA · sonsA · unperturbedB · curbedB
- 10 AA-BB remainA · plainA · to · blowsB · knowsB
- 11 AABB floatA · boatA · dynamiteB · politeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In extended observation of the ways and works of man, | 15 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘······· |
| From the Four-mile Radius roughly to the plains of Hindustan: | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| I have drunk with mixed assemblies, seen the racial ruction rise, | 15 | ·····˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And the men of half creation damning half creation’s eyes. | 15 | ·····˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| I have watched them in their tantrums, all that pentecostal crew, | 15 | ······/˘···˘/˘· |
| French, Italian, Arab, Spaniard, Dutch and Greek, and Russ and Jew, | 15 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘······· |
| Celt and savage, buff and ochre, cream and yellow, mauve and white, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| But it never really mattered till the English grew polite; | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Till the men with polished toppers, till the men in long frock-coats, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Till the men that do not duel, till the men who fight with votes, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Till the breed that take their pleasures as Saint Laurence took his | 14 | ······/˘··/˘·· |
| grid, | 1 | · |
| Began to ‘beg your pardon’ and--the knowing croupier hid. | 15 | ˘/···/˘··/˘/˘˘· |
| Then the bandsmen with their fiddles, and the girls that bring the | 14 | ······/˘······ |
| beer, | 1 | · |
| Felt the psychologic moment, left the lit casino clear; | 15 | ······/˘···˘/˘· |
| But the uninstructed alien, from the Teuton to the Gaul, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Was entrapped, once more, my country, by that suave, deceptive | 15 | ·˘/˘···/˘···˘/˘ |
| drawl. | 1 | · |
| As it was in ancient Suez or ’neath wilder, milder skies, | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| I ‘observe with apprehension’ when the racial ructions rise; | 15 | ·˘/··˘/˘··/˘··· |
| And with keener apprehension, if I read the times aright, | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Hear the old casino order: ‘Watch your man, but be polite. | 15 | ···˘/˘/˘·····˘/ |
| ‘Keep your temper. Never answer (that was why they spat and swore). | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘······· |
| Don’t hit first, but move together (there’s no hurry) to the door. | 15 | ·····˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Back to back, and facing outward while the linguist tells ’em how-- | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| "Nous sommes allong à notre batteau, nous ne voulong pas un row."’ | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| So the hard, pent rage ate inward, till some idiot went too far ... | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| ‘Let ’em have it!’ and they had it, and the same was serious war. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Fist, umbrella, cane, decanter, lamp and beer-mug, chair and boot-- | 15 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘······· |
| Till behind the fleeing legions rose the long, hoarse yell for loot. | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Then the oil-cloth with its numbers, as a banner fluttered free; | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Then the grand piano cantered, on three castors, down the quay; | 15 | ···˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| White, and breathing through their nostrils, silent, systematic, | 14 | ··/˘··/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| swift-- | 1 | · |
| They removed, effaced, abolished all that man could heave or lift. | 15 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘······· |
| Oh, my country, bless the training that from cot to castle runs-- | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| The pitfall of the stranger but the bulwark of thy sons-- | 14 | ·/···/˘··/˘··· |
| Measured speech and ordered action, sluggish soul and unperturbed, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Till we wake our Island-Devil--nowise cool for being curbed! | 15 | ···//˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| When the heir of all the ages ‘has the honour to remain,’ | 15 | ······/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| When he will not hear an insult, though men make it ne’er so plain, | 15 | ······˘/······· |
| When his lips are schooled to meekness, when his back is bowed to | 15 | ·····˘·/˘······ |
| blows-- | 1 | · |
| Well the keen aas-vogels know it--well the waiting jackal knows. | 15 | ····/˘····/˘/˘· |
| Build on the flanks of Etna where the sullen smoke-puffs float-- | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Or bathe in tropic waters where the lean fin dogs the boat-- | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
| Cock the gun that is not loaded, cook the frozen dynamite-- | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| But oh, beware my country, when my country grows polite! | 14 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
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