Heriot's Ford
'What's that that hirples at my side?'The foe that you must fight, my lord.'That rides as fast as I can ride?'The shadow of your might, my lord.
'Then wheel my horse against the foe!'He's down and overpast, my lord.You war against the sunset glow,The judgment follows fast, my lord.
'Oh who will stay the sun's descent?'King Joshua he is dead, my lord.'I need an hour to repent!''Tis what our sister said, my lord.
'Oh do not slay me in my sins!'You're safe awhile with us, my lord.'Nay, kill me ere my fear begins.'We would not serve you thus, my lord.
'Where is the doom that I must face?'Three little leagues away, my lord.'Then mend the horses' laggard pace!'We need them for next day, my lord.
'Next day--next day! Unloose my cords!'Our sister needed none, my lord.You had no mind to face our swords,And--where can cowards run, my lord?
'You would not kill the soul alive?''Twas thus our sister cried, my lord.'I dare not die with none to shrive.'But so our sister died, my lord.
'Then wipe the sweat from brow and cheek.It runnels forth afresh, my lord.'Uphold me--for the flesh is weak.'You've finished with the Flesh, my lord.
Words in this poem
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- laggard a.
- Slow; sluggish; backward. [Lag + -ard.]
- unloose v. t.
- To make loose; to loosen; to set free. [1st pref. un- (intensive) + loose.]
- shrive v. t.
- To hear or receive the confession of; to administer confession and absolution to; -- said of a priest as the agent. [OE. shriven, schriven, AS. scrivan to shrive, to impose penance or punishment; akin to OFries. skriva to impose punishment; cf. OS. biskriban to be troubled. Cf]
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Heriot's Ford 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, Heriot's Ford, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/heriot-s-ford.html, id L20425.
Form and metre
Heriot's Ford is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABAB sideA · lordB · rideA · lordB
- 2 ABAB foeA · lordB · glowA · lordB
- 3 ABAB descentA · lordB · repentA · lordB
- 4 ABAB sinsA · lordB · beginsA · lordB
- 5 ABAB faceA · lordB · paceA · lordB
- 6 ABAB cordsA · lordB · swordsA · lordB
- 7 ABAB aliveA · lordB · shriveA · lordB
- 8 ABAB cheekA · lordB · weakA · lordB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'What's that that hirples at my side?' | 7 | ······· |
| The foe that you must fight, my lord. | 8 | ········ |
| 'That rides as fast as I can ride?' | 8 | ········ |
| The shadow of your might, my lord. | 8 | ·/······ |
| 'Then wheel my horse against the foe!' | 8 | ········ |
| He's down and overpast, my lord. | 8 | ········ |
| You war against the sunset glow, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The judgment follows fast, my lord. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| 'Oh who will stay the sun's descent?' | 8 | ······˘/ |
| King Joshua he is dead, my lord. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'I need an hour to repent!' | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| 'Tis what our sister said, my lord. | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| 'Oh do not slay me in my sins!' | 8 | ········ |
| You're safe awhile with us, my lord. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| 'Nay, kill me ere my fear begins.' | 8 | ······˘/ |
| We would not serve you thus, my lord. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Where is the doom that I must face?' | 8 | ········ |
| Three little leagues away, my lord. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| 'Then mend the horses' laggard pace!' | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| We need them for next day, my lord. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Next day--next day! Unloose my cords!' | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Our sister needed none, my lord. | 8 | //˘/˘··· |
| You had no mind to face our swords, | 8 | ······/· |
| And--where can cowards run, my lord? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'You would not kill the soul alive?' | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Twas thus our sister cried, my lord. | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| 'I dare not die with none to shrive.' | 8 | ········ |
| But so our sister died, my lord. | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| 'Then wipe the sweat from brow and cheek. | 8 | ········ |
| It runnels forth afresh, my lord. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| 'Uphold me--for the flesh is weak.' | 8 | ˘/······ |
| You've finished with the Flesh, my lord. | 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.