A Dedication
And they were stronger hands than mineThat digged the Ruby from the earth--More cunning brains that made it worthThe large desire of a king,And stouter hearts that through the brineWent down the perfect Pearl to bring.
Lo, I have wrought in common clayRude figures of a rough-hewn race,Since pearls strew not the market-placeIn this my town of banishment,Where with the shifting dust I play,And eat the bread of discontent.
Yet is there life in that I make.O thou who knowest, turn and see--As thou hast power over meSo have I power over these,Because I wrought them for thy sake,And breathed in them mine agonies.
Small mirth was in the making--nowI lift the cloth that cloaks the clay,And, wearied, at thy feet I layMy wares, ere I go forth to sell.The long bazar will praise, but thou--Heart of my heart--have I done well?
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- bazar n.
- In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale. [Per. bazar market.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Dedication is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; 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, A Dedication, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/a-dedication.html, id L20401.
Form and metre
A Dedication is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBCAC. 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 ABBCAC mineA · earthB · worthB · kingC · brineA · bringC
- 2 ABBCAC clayA · raceB · placeB · banishmentC · playA · discontentC
- 3 ABBCAC makeA · seeB · meB · theseC · sakeA · agoniesC
- 4 ABBCAC nowA · clayB · layB · sellC · thouA · wellC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And they were stronger hands than mine | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That digged the Ruby from the earth-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| More cunning brains that made it worth | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The large desire of a king, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And stouter hearts that through the brine | 8 | ········ |
| Went down the perfect Pearl to bring. | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Lo, I have wrought in common clay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rude figures of a rough-hewn race, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Since pearls strew not the market-place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In this my town of banishment, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Where with the shifting dust I play, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And eat the bread of discontent. | 8 | ·····˘˘/ |
| Yet is there life in that I make. | 8 | ········ |
| O thou who knowest, turn and see-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As thou hast power over me | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So have I power over these, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Because I wrought them for thy sake, | 8 | ········ |
| And breathed in them mine agonies. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Small mirth was in the making--now | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I lift the cloth that cloaks the clay, | 8 | ········ |
| And, wearied, at thy feet I lay | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My wares, ere I go forth to sell. | 8 | ········ |
| The long bazar will praise, but thou-- | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Heart of my heart--have I done well? | 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.