The Old Men
This is our lot if we live so long and labour unto the end--That we outlive the impatient years and the much too patient friend:And because we know we have breath in our mouth and think we havethought in our head,We shall assume that we are alive, whereas we are really dead.
We shall not acknowledge that old stars fade or alien planets arise(That the sere bush buds or the desert blooms or the ancientwell-head dries),Or any new compass wherewith new men adventure ’neath new skies.
We shall lift up the ropes that constrained our youth to bind on ourchildren’s hands;We shall call to the water below the bridges to return and replenishour lands;We shall harness horses (Death’s own pale horses) and scholarlyplough the sands.
We shall lie down in the eye of the sun for lack of a light on ourway--We shall rise up when the day is done and chirrup, ‘Behold, it isday!’We shall abide till the battle is won ere we amble into the fray.
We shall peck out and discuss and dissect, and evert and extrude toour mind,The flaccid tissues of long-dead issues offensive to God and mankind--(Precisely like vultures over an ox that the Army has left behind).
We shall make walk preposterous ghosts of the glories we once created--(Immodestly smearing from muddled palettes amazing pigments mismated)And our friends will weep when we ask them with boasts if our naturalforce be abated.
The Lamp of our Youth will be utterly out: but we shall subsist onthe smell of it,And whatever we do, we shall fold our hands and suck our gums andthink well of it.Yes, we shall be perfectly pleased with our work, And that is theperfectest Hell of it!
This is our lot if we live so long and listen to those who love us--That we are shunned by the people about and shamed by the Powersabove us.Wherefore be free of your harness betimes; but being free be assured,That he who hath not endured to the death, from his birth he hathnever endured!
Words in this poem 19
- outlive v. t.
- To live beyond, or longer than; to survive.
- 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,]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- replenish v. i.
- To recover former fullness.
- scholarly a.
- Like a scholar, or learned person; showing the qualities of a scholar; as, a scholarly essay or critique.
- chirrup v. t.
- To quicken or animate by chirping; to cherup. [See Chirp.]
- amble v. i.
- To go at the easy gait called an amble; -- applied to the horse or to its rider. [F. ambler to amble, fr. L. ambulare to walk, in LL., to amble, perh. fr. amb-, ambi-, and a root meaning to go: cf. Gr. base. Cf. Ambulate.]
- discuss v. t.
- To break to pieces; to shatter. Sir T. Browne. [L. discussus, p. p. of discutere to strike asunder (hence came the sense to separate mentally, distinguish); dis- + quatere to shake, strike. See Quash.]
- dissect v. t.
- To divide into separate parts; to cut in pieces; to separate and expose the parts of, as an animal or a plant, for examination and to show their structure and relations; to anatomize. [L. dissectus, p. p. of dissecare; dis- + secare to cut. See Section.]
- evert v. t.
- To overthrow; to subvert. Ayliffe. [L. evertere. See Everse.]
- extrude v. t.
- To thrust out; to force, press, or push out; to expel; to drive off or away. [L. extrudere, extrusum; ex out + trudere to thrust, akin to E. threat. See Threat.]
- preposterous a.
- Having that first which ought to be last; inverted in order. [L. praeposterus; prae before + posterus coming after, latter. See Posterior.]
- immodestly adv.
- In an immodest manner.
- amazing a.
- Causing amazement; very wonderful; as, amazing grace.
- subsist v. i.
- To be; to have existence; to inhere. [L. subsistere to stand still, stay, remain alive; sub under + sistere to stand, to cause to stand, from stare to stand: cf. F. subsister. See Stand.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old Men 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, The Old Men, in The Five Nations, Volume I (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60260, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-1/the-old-men.html, id L25364.
Form and metre
The Old Men is 40 lines in 8 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 AA-BB endA · friendA · have · headB · deadB
- 2 A-AA ariseA · ancient · driesA · skiesA
- 3 -A-A-A our · handsA · replenish · landsA · scholarly · sandsA
- 4 -A-AA our · wayA · is · dayA · frayA
- 5 -AAA to · mindA · mankindA · behindA
- 6 AA-A createdA · mismatedA · natural · abatedA
- 7 -A-A-A on · itA · and · itA · the · itA
- 8 A-AB-B usA · powers · usA · assuredB · hath · enduredB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This is our lot if we live so long and labour unto the end-- | 16 | ··/·······/····· |
| That we outlive the impatient years and the much too patient friend: | 16 | ···/·˘/˘·····/˘· |
| And because we know we have breath in our mouth and think we have | 15 | ·········/····· |
| thought in our head, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| We shall assume that we are alive, whereas we are really dead. | 16 | ··˘/···˘/˘/··/˘· |
| We shall not acknowledge that old stars fade or alien planets arise | 17 | ···˘/˘·····/˘/˘˘/ |
| (That the sere bush buds or the desert blooms or the ancient | 14 | ·······˘/···/˘ |
| well-head dries), | 3 | ··· |
| Or any new compass wherewith new men adventure ’neath new skies. | 16 | ·/˘·/˘˘/··˘/˘··· |
| We shall lift up the ropes that constrained our youth to bind on our | 15 | ·······˘//····/ |
| children’s hands; | 3 | /˘· |
| We shall call to the water below the bridges to return and replenish | 19 | ·····/˘···/˘·˘/·˘/˘ |
| our lands; | 3 | /˘· |
| We shall harness horses (Death’s own pale horses) and scholarly | 14 | ··/˘/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| plough the sands. | 3 | ··· |
| We shall lie down in the eye of the sun for lack of a light on our | 17 | ················/ |
| way-- | 1 | · |
| We shall rise up when the day is done and chirrup, ‘Behold, it is | 16 | ··········/˘˘/·· |
| day!’ | 1 | · |
| We shall abide till the battle is won ere we amble into the fray. | 18 | ··˘/··/˘····/˘···· |
| We shall peck out and discuss and dissect, and evert and extrude to | 17 | ·····˘/·˘/·˘/·˘/· |
| our mind, | 3 | /˘· |
| The flaccid tissues of long-dead issues offensive to God and mankind-- | 18 | ·/˘/˘···/˘˘/˘···// |
| (Precisely like vultures over an ox that the Army has left behind). | 17 | ˘/˘·/˘·····/˘···· |
| We shall make walk preposterous ghosts of the glories we once created-- | 17 | ····˘/˘···/˘··˘/˘ |
| (Immodestly smearing from muddled palettes amazing pigments mismated) | 19 | ˘/˘˘/˘·/˘/˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| And our friends will weep when we ask them with boasts if our natural | 15 | ·/··········//˘ |
| force be abated. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| The Lamp of our Youth will be utterly out: but we shall subsist on | 16 | ···/···/˘····˘/· |
| the smell of it, | 4 | ···· |
| And whatever we do, we shall fold our hands and suck our gums and | 16 | ··/˘·····/···/·· |
| think well of it. | 4 | ···· |
| Yes, we shall be perfectly pleased with our work, And that is the | 14 | ····/˘··/····· |
| perfectest Hell of it! | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| This is our lot if we live so long and listen to those who love us-- | 17 | ··/·······/˘····· |
| That we are shunned by the people about and shamed by the Powers | 15 | ······/˘······/ |
| above us. | 3 | ··· |
| Wherefore be free of your harness betimes; but being free be assured, | 16 | /˘····/˘···/··˘/ |
| That he who hath not endured to the death, from his birth he hath | 15 | ·····˘/········ |
| never endured! | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
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.