Song of the Fifth River
When first by Eden Tree,The Four Great Rivers ran,To each was appointed a ManHer Prince and Ruler to be.
But after this was ordained,(The ancient legends tell),There came dark Israel,For whom no River remained.
Then He Whom the Rivers obeySaid to him: 'Fling on the groundA handful of yellow clay,And a Fifth Great River shall run,Mightier than these Four,In secret the Earth around;And Her secret evermore,Shall be shown to thee and thy Race.'So it was said and done.And deep in the veins of Earth,And, fed by a thousand springsThat comfort the market-place,Or sap the power of Kings,The Fifth Great River had birth,Even as it was foretold--The Secret River of Gold!
And Israel laid downHis sceptre and his crown,To brood on that River's bank,Where the waters flashed and sank,And burrowed in earth and fell,And bided a season below,For reason that none might know,Save only Israel.
He is Lord of the Last--The Fifth, most wonderful, Flood.He hears Her thunder pastAnd Her Song is in his blood.He can foresay: 'She will fall,'For he knows which fountain dries.Behind which desert-beltA thousand leagues to the South.
He can foresay: 'She will rise.'He knows what far snows melt;Along what mountain-wallA thousand leagues to the North.He snuffs the coming drouthAs he snuffs the coming rain,He knows what each will bring forthsAnd turns it to his gain.
A Ruler without a Throne,A Prince without a Sword,Israel follows his quest.In every land a guest,Of many lands a lord,In no land King is he.But the Fifth Great River keepsThe secret of Her deepsFor Israel alone,As it was ordered to be.
Words in this poem
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- 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,]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- sceptre n.
- A staff or baton borne by a sovereign, as a ceremonial badge or emblem of authority; a royal mace. [F. sceptre, L. sceptrum, from Gr. shaft. See Shaft, and cf. Scape a stem, shaft.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Fifth River 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, Song of the Fifth River, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/song-of-the-fifth-river.html, id L20357.
Form and metre
Song of the Fifth River is 58 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 ABBA treeA · ranB · manB · beA
- 2 C--C ordainedC · tell · israel · remainedC
- 3 DEDFGEGHFIJHJIKK obeyD · groundE · clayD · runF · fourG · aroundE · evermoreG · raceH · doneF · earthI · springsJ · placeH · kingsJ · birthI · foretoldK · goldK
- 4 LLMM-NN- downL · crownL · bankM · sankM · fell · belowN · knowN · israel
- 5 OPOPQRST lastO · floodP · pastO · bloodP · fallQ · driesR · beltS · southT
- 6 RSQ-TU-U riseR · meltS · wallQ · north · drouthT · rainU · forths · gainU
- 7 -VWWVX---X throne · swordV · questW · guestW · lordV · heX · keeps · deeps · alone · beX
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When first by Eden Tree, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The Four Great Rivers ran, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To each was appointed a Man | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Her Prince and Ruler to be. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| But after this was ordained, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| (The ancient legends tell), | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| There came dark Israel, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| For whom no River remained. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Then He Whom the Rivers obey | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| Said to him: 'Fling on the ground | 7 | ······· |
| A handful of yellow clay, | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| And a Fifth Great River shall run, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Mightier than these Four, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| In secret the Earth around; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And Her secret evermore, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Shall be shown to thee and thy Race.' | 8 | ········ |
| So it was said and done. | 6 | ······ |
| And deep in the veins of Earth, | 7 | ······· |
| And, fed by a thousand springs | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That comfort the market-place, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Or sap the power of Kings, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The Fifth Great River had birth, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Even as it was foretold-- | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| The Secret River of Gold! | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| And Israel laid down | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| His sceptre and his crown, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To brood on that River's bank, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where the waters flashed and sank, | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| And burrowed in earth and fell, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And bided a season below, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| For reason that none might know, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Save only Israel. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| He is Lord of the Last-- | 6 | ······ |
| The Fifth, most wonderful, Flood. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| He hears Her thunder past | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Her Song is in his blood. | 7 | ······· |
| He can foresay: 'She will fall,' | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| For he knows which fountain dries. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Behind which desert-belt | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A thousand leagues to the South. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He can foresay: 'She will rise.' | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| He knows what far snows melt; | 6 | ······ |
| Along what mountain-wall | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| A thousand leagues to the North. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He snuffs the coming drouth | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As he snuffs the coming rain, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He knows what each will bring forths | 7 | ······· |
| And turns it to his gain. | 6 | ······ |
| A Ruler without a Throne, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| A Prince without a Sword, | 6 | ······ |
| Israel follows his quest. | 7 | /˘˘/˘·· |
| In every land a guest, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Of many lands a lord, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In no land King is he. | 6 | ······ |
| But the Fifth Great River keeps | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The secret of Her deeps | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For Israel alone, | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| As it was ordered to be. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
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