The Sack of the Gods
Strangers drawn from the ends of the earth, jewelled and plumed were we.I was Lord of the Inca race, and she was Queen of the Sea.Under the stars beyond our stars where the new-forged meteors glowHotly we stormed Valhalla, a million years ago.
Ever 'neath high Valhalla Hall the well-tuned horns beginWhen the swords are out in the underworld, and the weary Gods come in.Ever through high Valhalla Gate the Patient Angel goes;He opens the eyes that are blind with hate--he joins the hands of foes.
Dust of the stars was under our feet, glitter of stars above--Wrecks of our wrath dropped reeling down as we fought and we spurned and we strove.Worlds upon worlds we tossed aside, and scattered them to and fro,The night that we stormed Valhalla, a million years ago!
They are forgiven as they forgive all those dark wounds and deep,Their beds are made on the lap of Time and they lie down and sleep.They are forgiven as they forgive all those old wounds that bleed,They shut their eyes from their worshippers. They sleep till the world has need.
She with the star I had marked for my own--I with my set desire--Lost in the loom of the Night of Nights--lighted by worlds afire--Met in a war against the Gods where the headlong meteors glow,Hewing our way to Valhalla, a million years ago!
They will come back--come back again, as long as the red Earth rolls.He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls?
Words in this poem
- inca n.
- The people governed by the Incas, now represented by the Quichua tribe. Inca dove (Zoöl.), a small dove (Scardafella inca), native of Arizona, Lower California, and Mexico.
- hotly adv.
- In a hot or fiery manner; ardently; vehemently; violently; hastily; as, a hotly pursued. [From Hot, a.]
- valhalla n.
- The palace of immortality, inhabited by the souls of heroes slain in battle. [Icel. valhöll, literally, hall of the slain; valr the slain (akin to AS. wæl, OHG. wal battlefield, wuol defeat, slaughter, AS. wol pestilence) + höll a royal h]
- underworld n.
- The lower of inferior world; the world which is under the heavens; the earth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sack of the Gods 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 Sack of the Gods, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/the-sack-of-the-gods.html, id L20282.
Form and metre
The Sack of the Gods is 22 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas.
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 weA · seaA · glowB · agoB
- 2 AABB beginA · inA · goesB · foesB
- 3 --AA above · strove · froA · agoA
- 4 AABB deepA · sleepA · bleedB · needB
- 5 --AA desire · afire · glowA · agoA
- 6 AA rollsA · soulsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Strangers drawn from the ends of the earth, jewelled and plumed were we. | 15 | /˘·······/˘···· |
| I was Lord of the Inca race, and she was Queen of the Sea. | 15 | ·····/˘········ |
| Under the stars beyond our stars where the new-forged meteors glow | 15 | ······/·····/˘· |
| Hotly we stormed Valhalla, a million years ago. | 14 | /˘··˘·/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Ever 'neath high Valhalla Hall the well-tuned horns begin | 15 | /˘···/˘····˘·˘/ |
| When the swords are out in the underworld, and the weary Gods come in. | 17 | ·······/˘···/˘··· |
| Ever through high Valhalla Gate the Patient Angel goes; | 14 | /˘···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| He opens the eyes that are blind with hate--he joins the hands of foes. | 16 | ·/˘············· |
| Dust of the stars was under our feet, glitter of stars above-- | 15 | ·······/·/˘···· |
| Wrecks of our wrath dropped reeling down as we fought and we spurned and we strove. | 17 | ··/··/˘·········· |
| Worlds upon worlds we tossed aside, and scattered them to and fro, | 15 | ······˘/·/˘···· |
| The night that we stormed Valhalla, a million years ago! | 15 | ·····˘·/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| They are forgiven as they forgive all those dark wounds and deep, | 15 | ··˘/˘··˘/······ |
| Their beds are made on the lap of Time and they lie down and sleep. | 15 | ··············· |
| They are forgiven as they forgive all those old wounds that bleed, | 15 | ··˘/˘··˘/······ |
| They shut their eyes from their worshippers. They sleep till the world has need. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| She with the star I had marked for my own--I with my set desire-- | 16 | ··············˘/ |
| Lost in the loom of the Night of Nights--lighted by worlds afire-- | 15 | ·········/˘··˘/ |
| Met in a war against the Gods where the headlong meteors glow, | 15 | ··········/·/˘· |
| Hewing our way to Valhalla, a million years ago! | 15 | /˘/˘···/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| They will come back--come back again, as long as the red Earth rolls. | 15 | ······˘/······· |
| He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls? | 17 | ·//˘··········/˘· |
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.