The Reformers
Not in the camp his victory liesOr triumph in the market-place,Who is his Nation’s sacrificeTo turn the judgment from his race.
Happy is he who, bred and taughtBy sleek, sufficing Circumstance--Whose Gospel was the apparelled thought,Whose Gods were Luxury and Chance--
Sees, on the threshold of his days,The old life shrivel like a scroll,And to unheralded dismaysSubmits his body and his soul;
The fatted shows wherein he stoodForegoing, and the idiot pride,That he may prove with his own bloodAll that his easy sires denied--
Ultimate issues, primal springs,Demands, abasements, penalties--The imperishable plinth of thingsSeen and unseen, that touch our peace.
For, though ensnaring ritual dimHis vision through the after-years,Yet virtue shall go out of him:Example profiting his peers.
With great things charged he shall not holdAloof till great occasion rise,But serve, full-harnessed, as of old,The days that are the destinies.
He shall forswear and put awayThe idols of his sheltered house;And to Necessity shall payUnflinching tribute of his vows.
He shall not plead another’s act,Nor bind him in another’s oathTo weigh the Word above the Fact,Or make or take excuse for sloth.
The yoke he bore shall press him still,And long-ingrained effort goadTo find, to fashion, and fulfilThe cleaner life, the sterner code.
Not in the camp his victory lies--The world (unheeding his return)Shall see it in his children’s eyesAnd from his grandson’s lips shall learn!
Words in this poem
- sufficing a.
- Affording enough; satisfying.
- idiot n.
- A man in private station, as distinguished from one holding a public office. [F. idiot, L. idiota an uneducated, ignorant, ill- informed person, Gr. Idiom.]
- primal a.
- First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- 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,]
- profiting n.
- Gain; advantage; profit.
- forswear v. t.
- To reject or renounce upon oath; hence, to renounce earnestly, determinedly, or with protestations. [OE. forsweren, forswerien, AS. forswerian; pref. for- + swerian to swear. See For-, and Swear, v. i.]
- unflinching a.
- Not flinching or shrinking; unyielding.
- cleaner n.
- One who, or that which, cleans.
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Reformers 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 Reformers, in The Five Nations, Volume II (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60261, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-five-nations-2/the-reformers.html, id L20253.
Form and metre
The Reformers is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 lies · placeA · sacrifice · raceA
- 2 ABAB taughtA · circumstanceB · thoughtA · chanceB
- 3 ABAB daysA · scrollB · dismaysA · soulB
- 4 ABAB stoodA · prideB · bloodA · deniedB
- 5 A-A- springsA · penalties · thingsA · peace
- 6 ABAB dimA · yearsB · himA · peersB
- 7 ABAB holdA · riseB · oldA · destiniesB
- 8 A-A- awayA · house · payA · vows
- 9 ABAB actA · oathB · factA · slothB
- 10 -A-A still · goadA · fulfil · codeA
- 11 ABAB liesA · returnB · eyesA · learnB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not in the camp his victory lies | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or triumph in the market-place, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who is his Nation’s sacrifice | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To turn the judgment from his race. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Happy is he who, bred and taught | 8 | /˘······ |
| By sleek, sufficing Circumstance-- | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Whose Gospel was the apparelled thought, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| Whose Gods were Luxury and Chance-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Sees, on the threshold of his days, | 8 | ···/···· |
| The old life shrivel like a scroll, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And to unheralded dismays | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Submits his body and his soul; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The fatted shows wherein he stood | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Foregoing, and the idiot pride, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| That he may prove with his own blood | 8 | ········ |
| All that his easy sires denied-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Ultimate issues, primal springs, | 8 | /˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Demands, abasements, penalties-- | 9 | ˘/····/˘˘ |
| The imperishable plinth of things | 9 | ·˘/˘˘˘··· |
| Seen and unseen, that touch our peace. | 8 | ··˘/··/· |
| For, though ensnaring ritual dim | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| His vision through the after-years, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yet virtue shall go out of him: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Example profiting his peers. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| With great things charged he shall not hold | 8 | ········ |
| Aloof till great occasion rise, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| But serve, full-harnessed, as of old, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The days that are the destinies. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| He shall forswear and put away | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| The idols of his sheltered house; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And to Necessity shall pay | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Unflinching tribute of his vows. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| He shall not plead another’s act, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Nor bind him in another’s oath | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| To weigh the Word above the Fact, | 8 | ········ |
| Or make or take excuse for sloth. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The yoke he bore shall press him still, | 8 | ········ |
| And long-ingrained effort goad | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To find, to fashion, and fulfil | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The cleaner life, the sterner code. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Not in the camp his victory lies-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The world (unheeding his return) | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Shall see it in his children’s eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And from his grandson’s lips shall learn! | 8 | ···/···· |
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.