A Song of the English
Fair is our lot -- O goodly is our heritage!(Humble ye, my people, and be fearful in your mirth!)For the Lord our God Most HighHe hath made the deep as dry,He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the Earth!
Yea, though we sinned -- and our rulers went from righteousness --Deep in all dishonour though we stained our garments' hem.Oh be ye not dismayed,Though we stumbled and we strayed,We were led by evil counsellors -- the Lord shall deal with them!
Hold ye the Faith -- the Faith our Fathers seal]\ed us;Whoring not with visions -- overwise and overstale.Except ye pay the LordSingle heart and single sword,Of your children in their bondage shall He ask them treble-tale!
Keep ye the Law -- be swift in all obedience --Clear the land of evil, drive the road and bridge the ford.Make ye sure to each his ownThat he reap where he hath sown;By the peace among Our peoples let men know we serve the Lord!
Hear now a song -- a song of broken interludes --A song of little cunning; of a singer nothing worth.Through the naked words and meanMay ye see the truth betweenAs the singer knew and touched it in the ends of all the Earth!
Words in this poem
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- righteousness n.
- The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude. [AS. rihtwisnes.]
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- 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,]
- overwise a.
- Too wise; affectedly wise.
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song of the English is in the public domain. This text is taken from Verses 1889-1896, Project Gutenberg ebook #323; 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, A Song of the English, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/a-song-of-the-english.html, id L16785.
Form and metre
A Song of the English is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 heritage · mirthA · highB · dryB · earthA
- 2 -ABBA righteousness · hemA · dismayedB · strayedB · themA
- 3 --AA- us · overstale · lordA · swordA · tale
- 4 -ABBA obedience · fordA · ownB · sownB · lordA
- 5 -ABBA interludes · worthA · meanB · betweenB · earthA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fair is our lot -- O goodly is our heritage! | 11 | ··/··/˘·//˘ |
| (Humble ye, my people, and be fearful in your mirth!) | 13 | /˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| For the Lord our God Most High | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He hath made the deep as dry, | 7 | ······· |
| He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the Earth! | 15 | ······/········ |
| Yea, though we sinned -- and our rulers went from righteousness -- | 12 | ·····//˘··/˘ |
| Deep in all dishonour though we stained our garments' hem. | 13 | ···˘/˘···//˘· |
| Oh be ye not dismayed, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Though we stumbled and we strayed, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| We were led by evil counsellors -- the Lord shall deal with them! | 13 | ····//˘······ |
| Hold ye the Faith -- the Faith our Fathers seal]\ed us; | 12 | ······//˘··· |
| Whoring not with visions -- overwise and overstale. | 14 | /˘··/˘/˘˘····· |
| Except ye pay the Lord | 6 | ······ |
| Single heart and single sword, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Of your children in their bondage shall He ask them treble-tale! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Keep ye the Law -- be swift in all obedience -- | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Clear the land of evil, drive the road and bridge the ford. | 12 | ····/······· |
| Make ye sure to each his own | 7 | ······· |
| That he reap where he hath sown; | 7 | ······· |
| By the peace among Our peoples let men know we serve the Lord! | 15 | ·····//˘······· |
| Hear now a song -- a song of broken interludes -- | 12 | ·······/˘/˘· |
| A song of little cunning; of a singer nothing worth. | 14 | ···/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Through the naked words and mean | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| May ye see the truth between | 7 | ······· |
| As the singer knew and touched it in the ends of all the Earth! | 15 | ··/˘··········· |
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.