The Captive
Not with an outcry to Allah nor any complainingHe answered his name at the muster and stood to the chaining.When the twin anklets were nipped on the leg-bars that held them,He brotherly greeted the armourers stooping to weld them.Ere the sad dust of the marshalled feet of the chain-gang swallowed him,Observing him nobly at ease, I alighted and followed him.Thus we had speech by the way, but not touching his sorrow--Rather his red Yesterday and his regal To-morrow,Wherein he statelily moved to the clink of his chains unregarded,Nowise abashed but contented to drink of the potion awarded.Saluting aloofly his Fate, he made swift with his story,And the words of his mouth were as slaves spreading carpets of gloryEmbroidered with names of the Djinns--a miraculous weaving--But the cool and perspicuous eye overbore unbelieving.So I submitted myself to the limits of rapture--Bound by this man we had bound, amid captives his capture--Till he returned me to earth and the visions departed.But on him be the Peace and the Blessing; for he was great-hearted!
Words in this poem
- allah n.
- The name of the Supreme Being, in use among the Arabs and the Mohammedans generally. [contr. fr. the article al the + ilah God.]
- muster n.
- Something shown for imitation; a pattern. [OE. moustre, OF. mostre, moustre, F. montre, LL. monstra. See Muster, v. t.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- statelily adv.
- In a stately manner.
- clink v. t.
- To cause to give out a slight, sharp, tinkling, sound, as by striking metallic or other sonorous bodies together. [OE. clinken; akin to G. klingen, D. klinken, SW. klinga, Dan. klinge; prob. of imitative origin. Cf. Clank, Clench, Click, v. i.]
- nowise adv.
- Not in any manner or degree; in no way; noways. [For in no wise. See Wise, n.]
- perspicuous a.
- Capable of being through; transparent; translucent; not opaque. [L. perspicuus, from perspicere to look through. See Perspective.]
- unbelieving a.
- Not believing; incredulous; doubting; distrusting; skeptical.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Captive 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, The Captive, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/the-captive.html, id L20322.
Form and metre
The Captive is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AABBCCDD--EEFFGGHH complainingA · chainingA · themB · themB · himC · himC · sorrowD · morrowD · unregarded · awarded · storyE · gloryE · weavingF · unbelievingF · raptureG · captureG · departedH · heartedH
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Not with an outcry to Allah nor any complaining | 14 | ···/··/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| He answered his name at the muster and stood to the chaining. | 15 | ·/˘····/˘····/˘ |
| When the twin anklets were nipped on the leg-bars that held them, | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| He brotherly greeted the armourers stooping to weld them. | 14 | ·/˘/˘····/˘··· |
| Ere the sad dust of the marshalled feet of the chain-gang swallowed him, | 16 | ······/˘·····/˘· |
| Observing him nobly at ease, I alighted and followed him. | 16 | ˘/˘·/˘···˘/˘·/˘· |
| Thus we had speech by the way, but not touching his sorrow-- | 14 | ·········/˘·/˘ |
| Rather his red Yesterday and his regal To-morrow, | 14 | /˘··/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| Wherein he statelily moved to the clink of his chains unregarded, | 17 | ···/˘˘··········· |
| Nowise abashed but contented to drink of the potion awarded. | 17 | /˘˘/·˘/˘····/˘˘/˘ |
| Saluting aloofly his Fate, he made swift with his story, | 15 | ˘/˘··········/˘ |
| And the words of his mouth were as slaves spreading carpets of glory | 16 | ·········/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Embroidered with names of the Djinns--a miraculous weaving-- | 14 | ˘/˘······˘/˘/˘ |
| But the cool and perspicuous eye overbore unbelieving. | 16 | ····˘/˘˘·····˘/˘ |
| So I submitted myself to the limits of rapture-- | 14 | ··˘/˘·/··/˘·/˘ |
| Bound by this man we had bound, amid captives his capture-- | 14 | ·······˘//˘·/˘ |
| Till he returned me to earth and the visions departed. | 14 | ··˘/·····/˘˘/˘ |
| But on him be the Peace and the Blessing; for he was great-hearted! | 16 | ········/˘····/˘ |
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