The Sea and the Hills
Who hath desired the Sea?--the sight of salt water unbounded--The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comberwind-hounded?The sleek-barrelled swell before storm, grey, foamless, enormous, andgrowing--Stark calm on the lap of the Line or the crazy-eyed hurricaneblowing--His Sea in no showing the same--his Sea and the same ’neath eachshowing--His Sea as she slackens or thrills?So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills!
Who hath desired the Sea?--the immense and contemptuous surges?The shudder, the stumble, the swerve, as the star-stabbing bowspritemerges?The orderly clouds of the Trades, and the ridged, roaring sapphirethereunder--Unheralded cliff-haunting flaws and the headsail’s low-volleyingthunder--His Sea in no wonder the same--his Sea and the same through eachwonder:His Sea as she rages or stills?So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills.
Who hath desired the Sea? Her menaces swift as her mercies,The in-rolling walls of the fog and the silver-winged breeze thatdisperses?The unstable mined berg going South and the calvings and groans thatdeclare it;White water half-guessed overside and the moon breaking timely tobare it;His Sea as his fathers have dared--his Sea as his children shall dareit--His Sea as she serves him or kills?So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills.
Who hath desired the Sea? Her excellent loneliness ratherThan forecourts of kings, and her outermost pits than the streetswhere men gatherInland, among dust, under trees--inland where the slayer may slayhim--Inland, out of reach of her arms, and the bosom whereon he must layhim--His Sea at the first that betrayed--at the last that shall neverbetray him--His Sea that his being fulfils?So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills.
Words in this poem
- comber n.
- One who combs; one whose occupation it is to comb wool, flax, etc.
- foamless a.
- Having no foam.
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- thereunder adv.
- Under that or this.
- berg n.
- A large mass or hill, as of ice. [sq. root95. See Barrow hill, and cf. Iceberg.]
- 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,]
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- slayer n.
- One who slays; a killer; a murderer; a destrroyer of life.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sea and the Hills 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 Sea and the Hills, in The Five Nations, Volume I (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60260, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-1/the-sea-and-the-hills.html, id L20223.
Form and metre
The Sea and the Hills is 44 lines in 4 stanzas of 11 lines each. 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 A-A-B-B-BCC unboundedA · comber · houndedA · and · growingB · hurricane · blowingB · each · showingB · thrillsC · hillsC
- 2 A-A-B-B-BCC surgesA · bowsprit · emergesA · sapphire · thereunderB · volleying · thunderB · each · wonderB · stillsC · hillsC
- 3 -A-AB-B-BCC mercies · thatA · disperses · thatA · itB · to · itB · dare · itB · killsC · hillsC
- 4 A-ABCBC-CDD ratherA · streets · gatherA · slayB · himC · layB · himC · never · himC · fulfilsD · hillsD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who hath desired the Sea?--the sight of salt water unbounded-- | 15 | ··˘/······/˘˘/˘ |
| The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| wind-hounded? | 3 | ·/˘ |
| The sleek-barrelled swell before storm, grey, foamless, enormous, and | 15 | ··˘/·····/˘˘/˘· |
| growing-- | 2 | /˘ |
| Stark calm on the lap of the Line or the crazy-eyed hurricane | 16 | ··········/˘·/˘· |
| blowing-- | 2 | /˘ |
| His Sea in no showing the same--his Sea and the same ’neath each | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| showing-- | 2 | /˘ |
| His Sea as she slackens or thrills? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills! | 18 | ···/˘····/˘···˘/·· |
| Who hath desired the Sea?--the immense and contemptuous surges? | 15 | ··˘/···˘/·˘/˘/˘ |
| The shudder, the stumble, the swerve, as the star-stabbing bowsprit | 15 | ·/˘·/˘·····/˘/˘ |
| emerges? | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| The orderly clouds of the Trades, and the ridged, roaring sapphire | 14 | ·/˘·······/˘/˘ |
| thereunder-- | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Unheralded cliff-haunting flaws and the headsail’s low-volleying | 14 | ˘/˘·/˘······/˘ |
| thunder-- | 2 | /˘ |
| His Sea in no wonder the same--his Sea and the same through each | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| wonder: | 2 | /˘ |
| His Sea as she rages or stills? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills. | 18 | ···/˘····/˘···˘/·· |
| Who hath desired the Sea? Her menaces swift as her mercies, | 14 | ··˘/···/˘···/˘ |
| The in-rolling walls of the fog and the silver-winged breeze that | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| disperses? | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| The unstable mined berg going South and the calvings and groans that | 15 | ·˘/˘··/···/˘··· |
| declare it; | 3 | ˘/· |
| White water half-guessed overside and the moon breaking timely to | 16 | ·/˘········/˘/˘· |
| bare it; | 2 | ·· |
| His Sea as his fathers have dared--his Sea as his children shall dare | 16 | ····/˘······/˘·· |
| it-- | 1 | · |
| His Sea as she serves him or kills? | 8 | ········ |
| So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills. | 18 | ···/˘····/˘···˘/·· |
| Who hath desired the Sea? Her excellent loneliness rather | 13 | ··˘/···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Than forecourts of kings, and her outermost pits than the streets | 15 | ········/˘····· |
| where men gather | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Inland, among dust, under trees--inland where the slayer may slay | 16 | /·······/···/˘·· |
| him-- | 1 | · |
| Inland, out of reach of her arms, and the bosom whereon he must lay | 17 | /·········/˘˘/··· |
| him-- | 1 | · |
| His Sea at the first that betrayed--at the last that shall never | 14 | ······˘/·····/ |
| betray him-- | 3 | ˘/· |
| His Sea that his being fulfils? | 7 | ····/·· |
| So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills. | 18 | ···/˘····/˘···˘/·· |
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.