Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack
As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled--Once, twice and again!And a doe leaped up, and a doe leaped upFrom the pond in the wood where the wild deer sup.This I, scouting alone, beheld,Once, twice and again!
As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled--Once, twice and again!And a wolf stole back, and a wolf stole backTo carry the word to the waiting pack,And we sought and we found and we bayed on his trackOnce, twice and again!
As the dawn was breaking the Wolf Pack yelledOnce, twice and again!Feet in the jungle that leave no mark!Eyes that can see in the dark--the dark!Tongue--give tongue to it! Hark! O hark!Once, twice and again!
Words in this poem
- belled a.
- Hung with a bell or bells.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- bayed a.
- Having a bay or bays.
- jungle n.
- A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil. [Hind. jangal desert, forest, jungle; Skr. ja desert.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack 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, Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/hunting-song-of-the-seeonee-pack.html, id L20430.
Form and metre
Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABCCAB belledA · againB · upC · supC · beheldA · againB
- 2 -ABBBA belled · againA · backB · packB · trackB · againA
- 3 -ABBBA yelled · againA · markB · darkB · harkB · againA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Once, twice and again! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| And a doe leaped up, and a doe leaped up | 10 | ·········· |
| From the pond in the wood where the wild deer sup. | 11 | ··········· |
| This I, scouting alone, beheld, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘/ |
| Once, twice and again! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Once, twice and again! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| And a wolf stole back, and a wolf stole back | 10 | ·········· |
| To carry the word to the waiting pack, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And we sought and we found and we bayed on his track | 12 | ············ |
| Once, twice and again! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| As the dawn was breaking the Wolf Pack yelled | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Once, twice and again! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Feet in the jungle that leave no mark! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Eyes that can see in the dark--the dark! | 9 | ········· |
| Tongue--give tongue to it! Hark! O hark! | 8 | ········ |
| Once, twice and again! | 5 | ···˘/ |
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.