The Stranger
The Stranger within my gate,He may be true or kind.But he does not talk my talk--I cannot feel his mind.I see the face and the eyes and the mouth,But not the soul behind.
The men of my own stockThey may do ill or well,But they tell the lies I am wonted to,They are used to the lies I tell.We do not need interpretersWhen we go to buy and sell.
The Stranger within my gates,He may be evil or good,But I cannot tell what powers control--What reasons sway his mood;Nor when the Gods of his far-off landMay repossess his blood.
The men of my own stock,Bitter bad they may be,But, at least, they hear the things I hear,And see the things I see;And whatever I think of them and their likesThey think of the likes of me.
This was my father's beliefAnd this is also mine:Let the corn be all one sheaf--And the grapes be all one vine,Ere our children's teeth are set on edgeBy bitter bread and wine.
Words in this poem
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
- repossess v. t.
- To possess again; as, to repossess the land. Pope. To repossess one's self of (something), to acquire again (something lost).
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Stranger 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 Stranger, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/the-stranger.html, id L20333.
Form and metre
The Stranger is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A gate · kindA · talk · mindA · mouth · behindA
- 2 -A-A-A stock · wellA · to · tellA · interpreters · sellA
- 3 -A---A gates · goodA · control · mood · land · bloodA
- 4 -A-A-A stock · beA · hear · seeA · likes · meA
- 5 ABAB-B beliefA · mineB · sheafA · vineB · edge · wineB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Stranger within my gate, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He may be true or kind. | 6 | ······ |
| But he does not talk my talk-- | 7 | ······· |
| I cannot feel his mind. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I see the face and the eyes and the mouth, | 10 | ·········· |
| But not the soul behind. | 6 | ······ |
| The men of my own stock | 6 | ······ |
| They may do ill or well, | 6 | ······ |
| But they tell the lies I am wonted to, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They are used to the lies I tell. | 8 | ········ |
| We do not need interpreters | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| When we go to buy and sell. | 7 | ······· |
| The Stranger within my gates, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He may be evil or good, | 6 | ···/·· |
| But I cannot tell what powers control-- | 9 | ··/˘··/˘/ |
| What reasons sway his mood; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor when the Gods of his far-off land | 9 | ········· |
| May repossess his blood. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The men of my own stock, | 6 | ······ |
| Bitter bad they may be, | 6 | /˘···· |
| But, at least, they hear the things I hear, | 9 | ········· |
| And see the things I see; | 6 | ······ |
| And whatever I think of them and their likes | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| They think of the likes of me. | 7 | ······· |
| This was my father's belief | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| And this is also mine: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Let the corn be all one sheaf-- | 7 | ······· |
| And the grapes be all one vine, | 7 | ······· |
| Ere our children's teeth are set on edge | 9 | ·//˘····· |
| By bitter bread and wine. | 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.