The Wage-Slaves
Oh glorious are the guarded heightsWhere guardian souls abide--Self-exiled from our gross delights--Above, beyond, outside:An ampler arc their spirit swings--Commands a juster view--We have their word for all these things,Nor doubt their words are true.
Yet we the bondslaves of our day,Whom dirt and danger press--Co-heirs of insolence, delay,And leagued unfaithfulness--Such is our need must seek indeedAnd, having found, engageThe men who merely do the workFor which they draw the wage.
From forge and farm and mine and bench,Deck, altar, outpost lone--Mill, school, battalion, counter, trench,Rail, senate, sheepfold, throne--Creation’s cry goes up on highFrom age to cheated age:‘Send us the men who do the workFor which they draw the wage.’
Words cannot help nor wit achieve,Nor e’en the all-gifted fool,Too weak to enter, bide, or leaveThe lists he cannot rule.Beneath the sun we count on noneOur evil to assuage,Except the men that do the workFor which they draw the wage.
When through the Gates of Stress and StrainComes forth the vast Event--The simple, sheer, sufficing, saneResult of labour spent--They that have wrought the end unthoughtBe neither saint nor sage,But men who merely did the workFor which they drew the wage.
Wherefore to these the Fates shall bend(And all old idle things--)Wherefore on these shall Power attendBeyond the grasp of kings:Each in his place, by right, not grace,Shall rule his heritage--The men who simply do the workFor which they draw the wage.
Not such as scorn the loitering street,Or waste to earn its praise,Their noontide’s unreturning heatAbout their morning ways:But such as dower each mortgaged hourAlike with clean courage--Even the men who do the workFor which they draw the wage--Men like to Gods that do the workFor which they draw the wage--Begin--continue--close the workFor which they draw the wage!
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- insolence n.
- The quality of being unusual or novel. [F. insolence, L. insolentia. See Insolent.]
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- battalion n.
- A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. [F. bataillon, fr. It. battaglione. See Battalia.]
- sheepfold n.
- A fold or pen for sheep; a place where sheep are collected or confined.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- sufficing a.
- Affording enough; satisfying.
- sane a.
- Being in a healthy condition; not deranged; acting rationally; -- said of the mind. [L. sanus; cf. Gr. Sound, a.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- 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,]
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wage-Slaves 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 Wage-Slaves, in The Five Nations, Volume I (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60260, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-1/the-wage-slaves.html, id L20235.
Form and metre
The Wage-Slaves is 60 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCDCD heightsA · abideB · delightsA · outsideB · swingsC · viewD · thingsC · trueD
- 2 ABAB-C-C dayA · pressB · delayA · unfaithfulnessB · indeed · engageC · work · wageC
- 3 ABAB-C-C benchA · loneB · trenchA · throneB · high · ageC · work · wageC
- 4 ABAB-C-C achieveA · foolB · leaveA · ruleB · none · assuageC · work · wageC
- 5 ABAB-C-C strainA · eventB · saneA · spentB · unthought · sageC · work · wageC
- 6 ABAB-C-C bendA · thingsB · attendA · kingsB · grace · heritageC · work · wageC
- 7 ABAB-CDCDCDC streetA · praiseB · heatA · waysB · hour · courageC · workD · wageC · workD · wageC · workD · wageC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh glorious are the guarded heights | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where guardian souls abide-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Self-exiled from our gross delights-- | 8 | ·/··/·˘/ |
| Above, beyond, outside: | 6 | ····// |
| An ampler arc their spirit swings-- | 7 | ·····/· |
| Commands a juster view-- | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| We have their word for all these things, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor doubt their words are true. | 6 | ······ |
| Yet we the bondslaves of our day, | 8 | ······/· |
| Whom dirt and danger press-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Co-heirs of insolence, delay, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| And leagued unfaithfulness-- | 6 | ······ |
| Such is our need must seek indeed | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| And, having found, engage | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The men who merely do the work | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For which they draw the wage. | 6 | ······ |
| From forge and farm and mine and bench, | 8 | ········ |
| Deck, altar, outpost lone-- | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| Mill, school, battalion, counter, trench, | 7 | ··˘/˘/· |
| Rail, senate, sheepfold, throne-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Creation’s cry goes up on high | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| From age to cheated age: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ‘Send us the men who do the work | 8 | ········ |
| For which they draw the wage.’ | 6 | ······ |
| Words cannot help nor wit achieve, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Nor e’en the all-gifted fool, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Too weak to enter, bide, or leave | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The lists he cannot rule. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Beneath the sun we count on none | 8 | ········ |
| Our evil to assuage, | 6 | //˘·˘/ |
| Except the men that do the work | 8 | ········ |
| For which they draw the wage. | 6 | ······ |
| When through the Gates of Stress and Strain | 8 | ········ |
| Comes forth the vast Event-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The simple, sheer, sufficing, sane | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Result of labour spent-- | 6 | ˘/·/·· |
| They that have wrought the end unthought | 8 | ········ |
| Be neither saint nor sage, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But men who merely did the work | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For which they drew the wage. | 6 | ······ |
| Wherefore to these the Fates shall bend | 8 | /˘······ |
| (And all old idle things--) | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wherefore on these shall Power attend | 8 | /˘···/˘/ |
| Beyond the grasp of kings: | 6 | ······ |
| Each in his place, by right, not grace, | 8 | ········ |
| Shall rule his heritage-- | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| The men who simply do the work | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For which they draw the wage. | 6 | ······ |
| Not such as scorn the loitering street, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or waste to earn its praise, | 6 | ······ |
| Their noontide’s unreturning heat | 8 | ········ |
| About their morning ways: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But such as dower each mortgaged hour | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Alike with clean courage-- | 6 | ˘/··/˘ |
| Even the men who do the work | 7 | /······ |
| For which they draw the wage-- | 6 | ······ |
| Men like to Gods that do the work | 8 | ········ |
| For which they draw the wage-- | 6 | ······ |
| Begin--continue--close the work | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| For which they draw the wage! | 6 | ······ |
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.