Poseidon's Law
When the robust and Brass-bound Man commissioned first for seaHis fragile raft, Poseidon laughed, and 'Mariner,' said he,'Behold, a Law immutable I lay on thee and thine,That never shall ye act or tell a falsehood at my shrine.
'Let Zeus adjudge your landward kin, whose votive meal and saltAt easy-cheated altars win oblivion for the fault,But you the unhoodwinked wave shall test--the immediate gulf condemn--Except ye owe the Fates a jest, be slow to jest with them.
'Ye shall not clear by Greekly speech, nor cozen from your pathThe twinkling shoal, the leeward beach, and Hadria's white-lipped wrath;Nor tempt with painted cloth for wood my fraud-avenging hosts;Nor make at all, or all make good, your bulwarks and your boasts.
'Now and henceforward serve unshod, through wet and wakeful shifts,A present and oppressive God, but take, to aid, my gifts--The wide and windward-opening eye, the large and lavish hand,The soul that cannot tell a lie--except upon the land!'
In dromond and in catafract--wet, wakeful, windward-eyed--He kept Poseidon's Law intact (his ship and freight beside),But, once discharged the dromond's hold, the bireme beached once more,Splendaciously mendacious rolled the Brass-bound Man ashore.
The thranite now and thalamite are pressures low and high,And where three hundred blades bit white the twin-propellers ply:The God that hailed, the keel that sailed, are changed beyond recall,But the robust and Brass-bound Man he is not changed at all!
From Punt returned, from Phormio's Fleet, from Javan and Gadire,He strongly occupies the seat about the tavern fire,And, moist with much Falernian or smoked Massilian juice,Revenges there the Brass-bound Man his long-enforced truce!
Words in this poem 18
- immutable a.
- Not mutable; not capable or susceptible of change; unchangeable; unalterable. [L. immutabilis; pref. im- not + mutabilis mutable. See Mutable.]
- 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,]
- landward adv.
- Toward the land.
- votive a.
- Given by vow, or in fulfillment of a vow; consecrated by a vow; devoted; as, votive offerings; a votive tablet. [L. votivus, fr. votum a vow: cf. F. votif. See Vow.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- cozen v. t.
- To cheat; to defrand; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. [From cousin, hence, literally, to deceive through pretext of relationship, F. cousiner.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- henceforward adv.
- From this time forward; henceforth.
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- dromond
- In the Middle Ages, a large, fast-sailing galley, or cutter; a large, swift war vessel. [Hist. or Archaic] Fuller. [OF. dromont, L. dromo, fr. Gr.Dromedary.]
- intact a.
- Untouched, especially by anything that harms, defiles, or the like; uninjured; undefiled; left complete or entire. Buckle. [L. intactus; pref. in- not + tactus, p. p. of tangere to touch: cf. F. intact. See In- not, and Tact, Tangent.]
- bireme n.
- An ancient galley or vessel with two banks or tiers of oars. [L. biremis; bis twice + remus oar: cf. F. birème.]
- beached p. p.
- Bordered by a beach.
- mendacious a.
- Given to deception or falsehood; lying; as, a mendacious person. [L. mendax, -acis, lying, cf. mentiri to lie.]
- thranite n.
- One of the rowers on the topmost of the three benches in a trireme.
- punt v. i.
- To play at basset, baccara, faro. or omber; to gamble. [F. ponter, or It. puntare, fr. L. punctum point. See Point.]
- falernian a.
- Of or pertaining to Mount Falernus, in Italy; as, Falernianwine.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poseidon's Law 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, Poseidon's Law, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/poseidon-s-law.html, id L20417.
Form and metre
Poseidon's Law is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 seaA · heA · thineB · shrineB
- 2 AABB saltA · faultA · condemnB · themB
- 3 AABB pathA · wrathA · hostsB · boastsB
- 4 AABB shiftsA · giftsA · handB · landB
- 5 AABB eyedA · besideA · moreB · ashoreB
- 6 AABB highA · plyA · recallB · allB
- 7 AABB gadireA · fireA · juiceB · truceB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the robust and Brass-bound Man commissioned first for sea | 14 | ··˘/····˘/˘··· |
| His fragile raft, Poseidon laughed, and 'Mariner,' said he, | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘˘·· |
| 'Behold, a Law immutable I lay on thee and thine, | 14 | ˘/··˘/˘˘······ |
| That never shall ye act or tell a falsehood at my shrine. | 14 | ·/˘······/···· |
| 'Let Zeus adjudge your landward kin, whose votive meal and salt | 14 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘··· |
| At easy-cheated altars win oblivion for the fault, | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| But you the unhoodwinked wave shall test--the immediate gulf condemn-- | 16 | ··········˘/˘·˘/ |
| Except ye owe the Fates a jest, be slow to jest with them. | 14 | ·············· |
| 'Ye shall not clear by Greekly speech, nor cozen from your path | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| The twinkling shoal, the leeward beach, and Hadria's white-lipped wrath; | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor tempt with painted cloth for wood my fraud-avenging hosts; | 14 | ···/˘·····˘/˘· |
| Nor make at all, or all make good, your bulwarks and your boasts. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| 'Now and henceforward serve unshod, through wet and wakeful shifts, | 15 | ············/˘· |
| A present and oppressive God, but take, to aid, my gifts-- | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘······· |
| The wide and windward-opening eye, the large and lavish hand, | 14 | ···/˘/˘····/˘· |
| The soul that cannot tell a lie--except upon the land!' | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| In dromond and in catafract--wet, wakeful, windward-eyed-- | 14 | ·········/˘/˘· |
| He kept Poseidon's Law intact (his ship and freight beside), | 14 | ··˘/˘·˘/····˘/ |
| But, once discharged the dromond's hold, the bireme beached once more, | 14 | ··˘/·····/···· |
| Splendaciously mendacious rolled the Brass-bound Man ashore. | 14 | ····˘/˘·····˘/ |
| The thranite now and thalamite are pressures low and high, | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| And where three hundred blades bit white the twin-propellers ply: | 14 | ···/˘·····˘/˘· |
| The God that hailed, the keel that sailed, are changed beyond recall, | 14 | ············/· |
| But the robust and Brass-bound Man he is not changed at all! | 14 | ··˘/·········· |
| From Punt returned, from Phormio's Fleet, from Javan and Gadire, | 14 | ··˘/·····˘/··· |
| He strongly occupies the seat about the tavern fire, | 15 | ·/˘/˘······/˘/˘ |
| And, moist with much Falernian or smoked Massilian juice, | 14 | ····˘/˘˘······ |
| Revenges there the Brass-bound Man his long-enforced truce! | 14 | ˘/˘·······˘/˘· |
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