Cold Iron
'Gold is for the mistress--silver for the maid--Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.''Good!' said the Baron, sitting in his hall,'But Iron--Cold Iron--is master of them all.'
So he made rebellion 'gainst the King his liege,Camped before his citadel and summoned it to siege.'Nay!' said the cannoneer on the castle wall,'But Iron--Cold Iron--shall be master of you all!'
Woe for the Baron and his knights so strong,When the cruel cannon-balls laid 'em all along!He was taken prisoner, he was cast in thrall,And Iron--Cold Iron--was master of it all.
Yet his King spake kindly (Ah, how kind a Lord!)'What if I release thee now and give thee back thy sword?''Nay!' said the Baron, 'mock not at my fall,For Iron--Cold Iron--is master of men all.'
'Tears are for the craven, prayers are for the clown--Halters for the silly neck that cannot keep a crown.''As my loss is grievous, so my hope is small,For Iron--Cold Iron--must be master of men all!'
Yet his King made answer (few such Kings there be!)'Here is Bread and here is Wine--sit and sup with me.Eat and drink in Mary's Name, the whiles I do recallHow Iron--Cold Iron--can be master of men all!'
He took the Wine and blessed It. He blessed and brake the Bread.With His own Hands He served Them, and presently He said:'See! These Hands they pierced with nails, outside My city wall,Show Iron--Cold Iron--to be master of men all!
'Wounds are for the desperate, blows are for the strong,Balm and oil for weary hearts all cut and bruised with wrong.I forgive thy treason--I redeem thy fall--For Iron--Cold Iron--must be master of men all!'
'Crowns are for the valiant--sceptres for the bold!Thrones and powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold.''Nay!' said the Baron, kneeling in his hall,'But Iron--Cold Iron--is master of man all!Iron out of Calvary is master of men all!'
Words in this poem
- craftsman n.
- One skilled in some trade or manual occupation; an artificer; a mechanic.
- liege a.
- Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord. [OE. lige, lege, F. lige, LL. ligius, legius, liege, unlimited, complete, prob. of German origin; cf. G. ledig free from bonds and obstacles, MHG. ledec, ledic, ]
- cannoneer n.
- A man who manages, or fires, cannon. [F. canonnier.]
- 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,]
- craven v. t.
- To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly.
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- calvary n.
- The place where Christ was crucified, on a small hill outside of Jerusalem. Luke xxiii. 33. [L. calvaria a bare skull, fr. calva the scalp without hair. fr. calvus bald; cf. F. calvaire.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cold Iron 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, Cold Iron, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/cold-iron.html, id L20304.
Form and metre
Cold Iron is 37 lines in 9 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is trochaic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in trochaic hexameter.
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 maidA · tradeA · hallB · allB
- 2 AABB liegeA · siegeA · wallB · allB
- 3 AABB strongA · alongA · thrallB · allB
- 4 AABB lordA · swordA · fallB · allB
- 5 AABB clownA · crownA · smallB · allB
- 6 AABB beA · meA · recallB · allB
- 7 AABB breadA · saidA · wallB · allB
- 8 AABB strongA · wrongA · fallB · allB
- 9 AABBB boldA · holdA · hallB · allB · allB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Gold is for the mistress--silver for the maid-- | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.' | 11 | /˘··/˘/˘··· |
| 'Good!' said the Baron, sitting in his hall, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| 'But Iron--Cold Iron--is master of them all.' | 10 | ·/·/·/˘··· |
| So he made rebellion 'gainst the King his liege, | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Camped before his citadel and summoned it to siege. | 13 | ····/˘··/˘··· |
| 'Nay!' said the cannoneer on the castle wall, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| 'But Iron--Cold Iron--shall be master of you all!' | 11 | ·/·/··/˘··· |
| Woe for the Baron and his knights so strong, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When the cruel cannon-balls laid 'em all along! | 11 | ··//˘····˘/ |
| He was taken prisoner, he was cast in thrall, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| And Iron--Cold Iron--was master of it all. | 10 | ·/·/·/˘··· |
| Yet his King spake kindly (Ah, how kind a Lord!) | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| 'What if I release thee now and give thee back thy sword?' | 13 | ···˘/········ |
| 'Nay!' said the Baron, 'mock not at my fall, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For Iron--Cold Iron--is master of men all.' | 10 | ·/·/·/˘··· |
| 'Tears are for the craven, prayers are for the clown-- | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Halters for the silly neck that cannot keep a crown.' | 13 | /˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| 'As my loss is grievous, so my hope is small, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| For Iron--Cold Iron--must be master of men all!' | 11 | ·/·/··/˘··· |
| Yet his King made answer (few such Kings there be!) | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| 'Here is Bread and here is Wine--sit and sup with me. | 12 | ············ |
| Eat and drink in Mary's Name, the whiles I do recall | 13 | ····/˘·····˘/ |
| How Iron--Cold Iron--can be master of men all!' | 11 | ·/·/··/˘··· |
| He took the Wine and blessed It. He blessed and brake the Bread. | 13 | ············· |
| With His own Hands He served Them, and presently He said: | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| 'See! These Hands they pierced with nails, outside My city wall, | 13 | ·······//·/˘· |
| Show Iron--Cold Iron--to be master of men all! | 11 | ·/·/··/˘··· |
| 'Wounds are for the desperate, blows are for the strong, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Balm and oil for weary hearts all cut and bruised with wrong. | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| I forgive thy treason--I redeem thy fall-- | 11 | ·˘/·/˘·˘/·· |
| For Iron--Cold Iron--must be master of men all!' | 11 | ·/·/··/˘··· |
| 'Crowns are for the valiant--sceptres for the bold! | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| Thrones and powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold.' | 13 | ··/·/˘······· |
| 'Nay!' said the Baron, kneeling in his hall, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| 'But Iron--Cold Iron--is master of man all! | 10 | ·/·/·/˘··· |
| Iron out of Calvary is master of men all!' | 11 | /··/˘·/˘··· |
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