Romulus and Remus
Oh, little did the Wolf-Child care,When first he planned his home,What City should arise and bearThe weight and state of Rome!
A shiftless, westward-wandering tramp,Checked by the Tiber flood,He reared a wall around his campOf uninspired mud.
But when his brother leaped the WallAnd mocked its height and make,He guessed the future of it allAnd slew him for its sake.
Swift was the blow--swift as the thoughtWhich showed him in that hourHow unbelief may bring to naughtThe early steps of Power.
Foreseeing Time's imperilled hopesOf Glory, Grace, and Love--All singers, Caesars, artists, Popes--Would fail if Remus throve,
He sent his brother to the Gods,And, when the fit was o'er,Went on collecting turves and clodsTo build the Wall once more!
Words in this poem
- unbelief n.
- The withholding of belief; doubt; incredulity; skepticism. [Pref. un- not + belief: cf. AS. ungeleáfa.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Romulus and Remus 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, Romulus and Remus, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/romulus-and-remus.html, id L20405.
Form and metre
Romulus and Remus is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 careA · homeB · bearA · romeB
- 2 ABAB trampA · floodB · campA · mudB
- 3 ABAB wallA · makeB · allA · sakeB
- 4 ABAB thoughtA · hourB · naughtA · powerB
- 6 A-A- godsA · o'er · clodsA · more
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, little did the Wolf-Child care, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When first he planned his home, | 6 | ······ |
| What City should arise and bear | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The weight and state of Rome! | 6 | ······ |
| A shiftless, westward-wandering tramp, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Checked by the Tiber flood, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He reared a wall around his camp | 8 | ········ |
| Of uninspired mud. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| But when his brother leaped the Wall | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And mocked its height and make, | 6 | ······ |
| He guessed the future of it all | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And slew him for its sake. | 6 | ······ |
| Swift was the blow--swift as the thought | 8 | ········ |
| Which showed him in that hour | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| How unbelief may bring to naught | 8 | ········ |
| The early steps of Power. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Foreseeing Time's imperilled hopes | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Of Glory, Grace, and Love-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| All singers, Caesars, artists, Popes-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Would fail if Remus throve, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He sent his brother to the Gods, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, when the fit was o'er, | 6 | ······ |
| Went on collecting turves and clods | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| To build the Wall once more! | 6 | ······ |
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.