The Files (The Sub-Editor Speaks)
Files--The Files--Office Files!Oblige me by referring to the files.Every question man can raise,Every phrase of every phaseOf that question is on record in the files--(Threshed out threadbare--fought and finished in the files).Ere the Universe at largeWas our new-tipped arrows’ targe--Ere we rediscovered Mammon and his wiles--Faenza, gentle reader, spent her--five-and-twentieth leader(You will find him, and some others, in the files).Warn all future Robert Brownings and Carlyles,It will interest them to hunt among the files,Where unvisited, a-cold,Lie the crowded years of oldIn that Kensall-Green of greatness called the files--(In our newspaPère-la-Chaise the office files),Where the dead men lay them downMeekly sure of long renown,And above them, sere and swift,Packs the daily deepening driftOf the all-recording, all-effacing files--The obliterating, automatic files.Count the mighty men who slungInk, Evangel, Sword, or TongueWhen Reform and you were young--Made their boasts and spake according in the files--(Hear the ghosts that wake applauding in the files!)Trace each all-forgot careerFrom long primer through brevierUnto Death, a para minion in the files(Para minion--solid--bottom of the files)....Some successful Kings and Queens adorn the files,They were great, their views were leaded,And their deaths were triple-headed,So they catch the eye in running through the files(Show as blazes in the mazes of the files);For their ‘paramours and priests,’And their gross, jack-booted feasts,And their epoch-marking actions see the files.Was it Bomba fled the blue Sicilian isles?Was it Saffi, a professorOnce of Oxford, brought redress orGaribaldi? Who remembersForty-odd-year old Septembers?--Only sextons paid to dig among the files(Such as I am, born and bred among the files).You must hack through much depositEre you know for sure who was itCame to burial with such honour in the files(Only seven seasons back beneath the files).‘Very great our loss and grievous--‘So our best and brightest leave us,‘And it ends the Age of Giants,’ say the files;All the ’60--’70--’80--’90 files(The open-minded, opportunist files--The easy ‘O King, live for ever’ files).It is good to read a little in the files;’Tis a sure and sovereign balmUnto philosophic calm,Yea, and philosophic doubt when Life beguiles.When you know Success is Greatness,When you marvel at your latenessIn apprehending facts so plain to Smiles(Self-helpful, wholly strenuous Samuel Smiles).When your Imp of Blind DesireBids you set the Thames afire,You’ll remember men have done so--in the files.You’ll have seen those flames transpire--in the files(More than once that flood has run so--in the files).When the Conchimarian hornsOf the reboantic NornsUsher gentlemen and ladiesWith new lights on Heaven and Hades,Guaranteeing to EternityAll yesterday’s modernity;When Brocken-spectres made bySome one’s breath on ink parade by,Very earnest and tremendous,Let not shows of shows offend us.When of everything we like weShout ecstatic:--’Quod ubique,Quod ab omnibus means semper!’Oh, my brother, keep your temper!Light your pipe and take a look along the files!You’ve a better chance to guessAt the meaning of Success(Which is Greatness--vide press)When you’ve seen it in perspective in the files.
Words in this poem 24
- oblige v. t.
- To attach, as by a bond. [OF. obligier, F.obliger, L. obligare; ob (see Ob-) + ligare to bind. See Ligament, and cf. Obligate.]
- targe n.
- A shield or target. [F. Cf. Target.]
- mammon n.
- Riches; wealth; the god of riches; riches, personified. [L. mammona, Gr. mam; cf. Heb. matm a hiding place, subterranean storehouse, treasury, fr. taman to hide.]
- meekly adv.
- In a meek manner.
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- evangel n.
- Good news; announcement of glad tidings; especially, the gospel, or a gospel. [F. évangile, L. evangelium, Gr. Eu-, and cf. Evangely.]
- career n.
- A race course: the ground run over. [F. carrière race course, high road, street, fr. L. carrus wagon. See Car.]
- brevier n.
- A size of type between bourgeous and minion. [Prob. from being originally used in printing a breviary. See Breviary.]
- para n.
- A piece of Turkish money, usually copper, the fortieth part of a piaster, or about one ninth of a cent. [Turk., fr. Per. parah a piece.]
- leaded a.
- Fitted with lead; set in lead; as, leaded windows.
- paramours adv.
- By or with love, esp. the love of the sexes; -- sometimes written as two words.
- sicilian a.
- Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.
- garibaldi n.
- A jacket worn by women; -- so called from its resemblance in shape to the red shirt worn by the Italians patriot Garibaldi.
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- 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.]
- opportunist n.
- One who advocates or practices opportunism. [Cf. F. opportuniste.]
- philosophic a.
- Of or pertaining to philosophy; versed in, or imbued with, the principles of philosophy; hence, characterizing a philosopher; rational; wise; temperate; calm; cool. [L. philosophicus: cf. F. philosophique.]
- strenuous a.
- Eagerly pressing or urgent; zealous; ardent; earnest; bold; valiant; intrepid; as, a strenuous advocate for national rights; a strenuous reformer; a strenuous defender of his country.
- transpire v. i.
- To pass off in the form of vapor or insensible perspiration; to exhale. [F. transpirer; L. trans across, through + spirare to breathe. See Spirit.]
- modernity n.
- Modernness; something modern. Walpole.
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
- omnibus n.
- A long four-wheeled carriage, having seats for many people; especially, one with seats running lengthwise, used in conveying passengers short distances. [L., for all, dat. pl. from omnis all. Cf. Bus.]
- perspective a.
- Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. [L. perspicere, perspectum, to look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F. perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See Spy, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Files (The Sub-Editor Speaks) is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Five Nations, Volume II, Project Gutenberg ebook #60261; 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 Files (The Sub-Editor Speaks), in The Five Nations, Volume II (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60261, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-2/the-files-the-sub-editor-speaks.html, id L20252.
Form and metre
The Files (The Sub-Editor Speaks) is 91 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ----AABBCCB-BBBDDB-EEFF--GGG----------HIIHH--JJ--KK--LL---MMNNMOOMM--MM-PPQQRRSSTTS-UU-VVV- files · files · files · files · raiseA · phaseA · filesB · filesB · largeC · targeC · wilesB · leader · filesB · carlylesB · filesB · coldD · oldD · filesB · files · downE · renownE · swiftF · driftF · files · files · slungG · tongueG · youngG · files · files · career · brevier · files · files · files · leaded · headed · files · filesH · priestsI · feastsI · filesH · islesH · professor · or · remembersJ · septembersJ · files · files · depositK · itK · files · files · grievousL · usL · files · files · files · filesM · filesM · balmN · calmN · beguilesM · greatnessO · latenessO · smilesM · smilesM · desire · afire · filesM · filesM · files · hornsP · nornsP · ladiesQ · hadesQ · eternityR · modernityR · byS · byS · tremendousT · usT · weS · ubique · semperU · temperU · files · guessV · successV · pressV · files
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Files-- | 1 | · |
| The Files-- | 2 | ·· |
| Office Files! | 3 | /˘· |
| Oblige me by referring to the files. | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Every question man can raise, | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Every phrase of every phase | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Of that question is on record in the files-- | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| (Threshed out threadbare--fought and finished in the files). | 11 | ··/···/˘··· |
| Ere the Universe at large | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Was our new-tipped arrows’ targe-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ere we rediscovered Mammon and his wiles-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Faenza, gentle reader, spent her--five-and-twentieth leader | 14 | ··/˘/˘····/˘/˘ |
| (You will find him, and some others, in the files). | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Warn all future Robert Brownings and Carlyles, | 11 | ··/˘/˘/˘·/· |
| It will interest them to hunt among the files, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Where unvisited, a-cold, | 7 | ······· |
| Lie the crowded years of old | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In that Kensall-Green of greatness called the files-- | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| (In our newspaPère-la-Chaise the office files), | 11 | ·/······/˘· |
| Where the dead men lay them down | 7 | ······· |
| Meekly sure of long renown, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| And above them, sere and swift, | 7 | ······· |
| Packs the daily deepening drift | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| Of the all-recording, all-effacing files-- | 11 | ···˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The obliterating, automatic files. | 11 | ·˘/˘·˘·˘/˘· |
| Count the mighty men who slung | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ink, Evangel, Sword, or Tongue | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| When Reform and you were young-- | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Made their boasts and spake according in the files-- | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| (Hear the ghosts that wake applauding in the files!) | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| Trace each all-forgot career | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| From long primer through brevier | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Unto Death, a para minion in the files | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| (Para minion--solid--bottom of the files).... | 11 | /˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Some successful Kings and Queens adorn the files, | 11 | ·˘/˘···˘/·· |
| They were great, their views were leaded, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And their deaths were triple-headed, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| So they catch the eye in running through the files | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| (Show as blazes in the mazes of the files); | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| For their ‘paramours and priests,’ | 7 | ······· |
| And their gross, jack-booted feasts, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And their epoch-marking actions see the files. | 11 | ··/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Was it Bomba fled the blue Sicilian isles? | 11 | ··/˘···˘/˘· |
| Was it Saffi, a professor | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Once of Oxford, brought redress or | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Garibaldi? Who remembers | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Forty-odd-year old Septembers?-- | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Only sextons paid to dig among the files | 11 | /˘/˘······· |
| (Such as I am, born and bred among the files). | 11 | ··········· |
| You must hack through much deposit | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Ere you know for sure who was it | 8 | ········ |
| Came to burial with such honour in the files | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| (Only seven seasons back beneath the files). | 10 | /˘//˘····· |
| ‘Very great our loss and grievous-- | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| ‘So our best and brightest leave us, | 8 | ·/··/˘·· |
| ‘And it ends the Age of Giants,’ say the files; | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| All the ’60--’70--’80--’90 files | 3 | ··· |
| (The open-minded, opportunist files-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The easy ‘O King, live for ever’ files). | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| It is good to read a little in the files; | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| ’Tis a sure and sovereign balm | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Unto philosophic calm, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Yea, and philosophic doubt when Life beguiles. | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| When you know Success is Greatness, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| When you marvel at your lateness | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In apprehending facts so plain to Smiles | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| (Self-helpful, wholly strenuous Samuel Smiles). | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| When your Imp of Blind Desire | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Bids you set the Thames afire, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| You’ll remember men have done so--in the files. | 11 | ·˘/˘······· |
| You’ll have seen those flames transpire--in the files | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| (More than once that flood has run so--in the files). | 11 | ··········· |
| When the Conchimarian horns | 7 | ······· |
| Of the reboantic Norns | 6 | ······ |
| Usher gentlemen and ladies | 8 | /˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| With new lights on Heaven and Hades, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Guaranteeing to Eternity | 9 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| All yesterday’s modernity; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| When Brocken-spectres made by | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Some one’s breath on ink parade by, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Very earnest and tremendous, | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Let not shows of shows offend us. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| When of everything we like we | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Shout ecstatic:--’Quod ubique, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Quod ab omnibus means semper!’ | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Oh, my brother, keep your temper! | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Light your pipe and take a look along the files! | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| You’ve a better chance to guess | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At the meaning of Success | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| (Which is Greatness--vide press) | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| When you’ve seen it in perspective in the files. | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
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.