'By the Hoof of the Wild Goat'
By the Hoof of the Wild Goat uptossedFrom the cliff where she lay in the SunFell the StoneTo the Tarn where the daylight is lost,So she fell from the light of the SunAnd alone!
Now the fall was ordained from the firstWith the Goat and the Cliff and the Tarn,But the StoneKnows only her life is accursedAs she sinks from the light of the SunAnd alone!
Oh Thou Who has builded the World,Oh Thou Who has lighted the Sun,Oh Thou Who has darkened the Tarn,Judge ThouThe sin of the Stone that was hurledBy the goat from the light of the Sun,As she sinks in the mire of the Tarn,Even now--even now--even now!
Words in this poem
- tarn n.
- A mountain lake or pool. [OE. terne, Icel. tjörn.]
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
'By the Hoof of the Wild Goat' 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, 'By the Hoof of the Wild Goat', in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/by-the-hoof-of-the-wild-goat.html, id L20392.
Form and metre
'By the Hoof of the Wild Goat' is 20 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%).
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 ABCABC uptossedA · sunB · stoneC · lostA · sunB · aloneC
- 2 A-BA-B firstA · tarn · stoneB · accursedA · sun · aloneB
- 3 ABCDABCD worldA · sunB · tarnC · thouD · hurledA · sunB · tarnC · nowD
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| By the Hoof of the Wild Goat uptossed | 9 | ········· |
| From the cliff where she lay in the Sun | 9 | ········· |
| Fell the Stone | 3 | ··· |
| To the Tarn where the daylight is lost, | 9 | ·····/··· |
| So she fell from the light of the Sun | 9 | ········· |
| And alone! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Now the fall was ordained from the first | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| With the Goat and the Cliff and the Tarn, | 9 | ········· |
| But the Stone | 3 | ··· |
| Knows only her life is accursed | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As she sinks from the light of the Sun | 9 | ········· |
| And alone! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Oh Thou Who has builded the World, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Oh Thou Who has lighted the Sun, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Oh Thou Who has darkened the Tarn, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Judge Thou | 2 | ·· |
| The sin of the Stone that was hurled | 8 | ········ |
| By the goat from the light of the Sun, | 9 | ········· |
| As she sinks in the mire of the Tarn, | 9 | ········· |
| Even now--even now--even now! | 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.