Tarrant Moss
I closed and drew for my love's sakeThat now is false to me,And I slew the Reiver of Tarrant MossAnd set Dumeny free.
They have gone down, they have gone down,They are standing all arow--Twenty knights in the peat-water,That never struck a blow!
Their armour shall not dull nor rust,Their flesh shall not decay,For Tarrant Moss holds them in trust,Until the Judgment Day.
Their soul went from them in their youth,Ah God, that mine had gone,Whenas I leaned on my love's truthAnd not on my sword alone!
Whenas I leaned on lad's beliefAnd not on my naked blade--And I slew a thief, and an honest thief,For the sake of a worthless maid.
They have laid the Reiver low in his place,They have set me up on high,But the twenty knights in the peat-waterAre luckier than I.
And ever they give me gold and praiseAnd ever I mourn my loss--For I struck the blow for my false love's sakeAnd not for the Men of the Moss!
Words in this poem
- arow adv.
- In a row, line, or rank; successively; in order. [Pref. a- + row.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- 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,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tarrant Moss 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, Tarrant Moss, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/tarrant-moss.html, id L20284.
Form and metre
Tarrant Moss is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 -A-A sake · meA · moss · freeA
- 3 ABAB rustA · decayB · trustA · dayB
- 4 A-A- youthA · gone · truthA · alone
- 5 ABAB beliefA · bladeB · thiefA · maidB
- 6 -A-A place · highA · water · iA
- 7 -A-A praise · lossA · sake · mossA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I closed and drew for my love's sake | 8 | ········ |
| That now is false to me, | 6 | ······ |
| And I slew the Reiver of Tarrant Moss | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| And set Dumeny free. | 6 | ······ |
| They have gone down, they have gone down, | 8 | ········ |
| They are standing all arow-- | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Twenty knights in the peat-water, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| That never struck a blow! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Their armour shall not dull nor rust, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their flesh shall not decay, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For Tarrant Moss holds them in trust, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Until the Judgment Day. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Their soul went from them in their youth, | 8 | ········ |
| Ah God, that mine had gone, | 6 | ······ |
| Whenas I leaned on my love's truth | 8 | /˘······ |
| And not on my sword alone! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Whenas I leaned on lad's belief | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| And not on my naked blade-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And I slew a thief, and an honest thief, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For the sake of a worthless maid. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They have laid the Reiver low in his place, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| They have set me up on high, | 7 | ······· |
| But the twenty knights in the peat-water | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Are luckier than I. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| And ever they give me gold and praise | 8 | ·/······ |
| And ever I mourn my loss-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| For I struck the blow for my false love's sake | 10 | ·········· |
| And not for the Men of the Moss! | 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.