The Young Queen (The Commonwealth of Australia, Inaugurated New Year’s Day 1901)
Her hand was still on her sword-hilt, the spur was still on her heel,She had not cast her harness of grey war-dinted steel;High on her red-splashed charger, beautiful, bold, and browned,Bright-eyed out of the battle, the Young Queen rode to be crowned.
She came to the Old Queen’s presence, in the Hall of Our ThousandYears--In the Hall of the Five Free Nations that are peers among theirpeers:Royal she gave the greeting, loyal she bowed the head,Crying--‘Crown me, my Mother!’ And the Old Queen stood and said:--
‘How can I crown thee further? I know whose standard fliesWhere the clean surge takes the Leeuwin or the coral barriers rise.Blood of our foes on thy bridle, and speech of our friends in thymouth--How can I crown thee further, O Queen of the Sovereign South?
‘Let the Five Free Nations witness!’ But the Young Queen answeredswift:--‘It shall be crown of Our crowning to hold Our crown for agift.In the days when Our folk were feeble thy sword made sure Our lands:Wherefore We come in power to take Our crown at thy hands.’
And the Old Queen raised and kissed her, and the jealous circletprest,Roped with the pearls of the Northland and red with the gold of theWest,Lit with her land’s own opals, levin-hearted, alive,And the Five-starred Cross above them, for sign of the Nations Five.
So it was done in the Presence--in the Hall of Our Thousand Years,In the face of the Five Free Nations that have no peer but theirpeers;And the Young Queen out of the Southland kneeled down at the OldQueen’s knee,And asked for a mother’s blessing on the excellent years to be.
And the Old Queen stooped in the stillness where the jewelled headdrooped low:--‘Daughter no more but Sister, and doubly Daughter so--Mother of many princes--and child of the child I bore,What good thing shall I wish thee that I have not wished before?
‘Shall I give thee delight in dominion--mere pride of thy settingforth?Nay, we be women together--we know what that lust is worth.Peace in thy utmost borders, and strength on a road untrod?These are dealt or diminished at the secret will of God.
‘I have swayed troublous councils, I am wise in terrible things;Father and son and grandson, I have known the heart of the Kings.Shall I give thee my sleepless wisdom, or the gift all wisdom above?Ay, we be women together--I give thee thy people’s love:
‘Tempered, august, abiding, reluctant of prayers or vows,Eager in face of peril as thine for thy mother’s house.God requite thee, my Sister, through the wonderful years to be,And make thy people to love thee as thou hast loved me!’
Words in this poem
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- 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,]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- circlet n.
- A little circle; esp., an ornament for the person, having the form of a circle; that which encircles, as a ring, a bracelet, or a headband.
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- levin n.
- Lightning. Spenser. Levin brand, a thunderbolt. [Etymol. uncertain. Cf. Leven.]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
- troublous a.
- Full of trouble; causing trouble.
- sleepless a.
- Having no sleep; wakeful.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Young Queen (The Commonwealth of Australia, Inaugurated New Year’s Day 1901) 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 Young Queen (The Commonwealth of Australia, Inaugurated New Year’s Day 1901), in The Five Nations, Volume I (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60260, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-1/the-young-queen-the-commonwealth-of-australia-inaugurated-ne.html, id L20247.
Form and metre
The Young Queen (The Commonwealth of Australia, Inaugurated New Year’s Day 1901) is 51 lines in 10 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 51% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABB heelA · steelA · brownedB · crownedB
- 2 -A-ABB thousand · yearsA · their · peersA · headB · saidB
- 3 AA-BB fliesA · riseA · thy · mouthB · southB
- 4 -A-ABB answered · swiftA · a · giftA · landsB · handsB
- 5 -A-ABB circlet · prestA · the · westA · aliveB · fiveB
- 6 A-A-BB yearsA · their · peersA · old · kneeB · beB
- 7 -AABB head · lowA · soA · boreB · beforeB
- 8 ---AA setting · forth · worth · untrodA · godA
- 9 AABB thingsA · kingsA · aboveB · loveB
- 10 --AA vows · house · beA · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Her hand was still on her sword-hilt, the spur was still on her heel, | 15 | ··············· |
| She had not cast her harness of grey war-dinted steel; | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| High on her red-splashed charger, beautiful, bold, and browned, | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| Bright-eyed out of the battle, the Young Queen rode to be crowned. | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| She came to the Old Queen’s presence, in the Hall of Our Thousand | 15 | ······/˘····//˘ |
| Years-- | 1 | · |
| In the Hall of the Five Free Nations that are peers among their | 15 | ·······/˘······ |
| peers: | 1 | · |
| Royal she gave the greeting, loyal she bowed the head, | 13 | /˘···/˘/˘···· |
| Crying--‘Crown me, my Mother!’ And the Old Queen stood and said:-- | 14 | /˘···/˘······· |
| ‘How can I crown thee further? I know whose standard flies | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| Where the clean surge takes the Leeuwin or the coral barriers rise. | 15 | ··········/˘/˘· |
| Blood of our foes on thy bridle, and speech of our friends in thy | 15 | ··/···/˘···/··· |
| mouth-- | 1 | · |
| How can I crown thee further, O Queen of the Sovereign South? | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| ‘Let the Five Free Nations witness!’ But the Young Queen answered | 14 | ····/˘/˘····/˘ |
| swift:-- | 1 | · |
| ‘It shall be crown of Our crowning to hold Our crown for a | 14 | ·····//˘··/··· |
| gift. | 1 | · |
| In the days when Our folk were feeble thy sword made sure Our lands: | 15 | ····/··/˘····/· |
| Wherefore We come in power to take Our crown at thy hands.’ | 13 | /˘···/··/···· |
| And the Old Queen raised and kissed her, and the jealous circlet | 14 | ··········/˘/˘ |
| prest, | 1 | · |
| Roped with the pearls of the Northland and red with the gold of the | 15 | ······/········ |
| West, | 1 | · |
| Lit with her land’s own opals, levin-hearted, alive, | 13 | ·····/˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| And the Five-starred Cross above them, for sign of the Nations Five. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| So it was done in the Presence--in the Hall of Our Thousand Years, | 16 | ······/˘····//˘· |
| In the face of the Five Free Nations that have no peer but their | 15 | ·······/˘······ |
| peers; | 1 | · |
| And the Young Queen out of the Southland kneeled down at the Old | 14 | ·······/······ |
| Queen’s knee, | 2 | ·· |
| And asked for a mother’s blessing on the excellent years to be. | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| And the Old Queen stooped in the stillness where the jewelled head | 14 | ·······/˘··/˘· |
| drooped low:-- | 2 | ·· |
| ‘Daughter no more but Sister, and doubly Daughter so-- | 13 | /˘···/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Mother of many princes--and child of the child I bore, | 13 | /˘·//˘······· |
| What good thing shall I wish thee that I have not wished before? | 14 | ·············· |
| ‘Shall I give thee delight in dominion--mere pride of thy setting | 16 | ····˘/·˘/˘····/˘ |
| forth? | 1 | · |
| Nay, we be women together--we know what that lust is worth. | 15 | ···/˘˘/˘······· |
| Peace in thy utmost borders, and strength on a road untrod? | 14 | ···/·/˘······· |
| These are dealt or diminished at the secret will of God. | 14 | ····˘/˘··/˘··· |
| ‘I have swayed troublous councils, I am wise in terrible things; | 14 | ···/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Father and son and grandson, I have known the heart of the Kings. | 15 | /˘···/········· |
| Shall I give thee my sleepless wisdom, or the gift all wisdom above? | 17 | ·····/˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Ay, we be women together--I give thee thy people’s love: | 15 | ···/˘˘/˘····/˘· |
| ‘Tempered, august, abiding, reluctant of prayers or vows, | 14 | /˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘···· |
| Eager in face of peril as thine for thy mother’s house. | 14 | /˘···/˘····/˘· |
| God requite thee, my Sister, through the wonderful years to be, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| And make thy people to love thee as thou hast loved me!’ | 13 | ···/˘········ |
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.