An Imperial Rescript
Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser decreed,To ease the strong of their burden, to help the weak in their need,He sent a word to the peoples, who struggle, and pant, and sweat,That the straw might be counted fairly and the tally of bricks be set.
The Lords of Their Hands assembled; from the East and the West they drew --Baltimore, Lille, and Essen, Brummagem, Clyde, and Crewe.And some were black from the furnace, and some were brown from the soil,And some were blue from the dye-vat; but all were wearied of toil.
And the young King said: -- “I have found it, the road to the rest ye seek:The strong shall wait for the weary, the hale shall halt for the weak;With the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line,Ye shall march to peace and plenty in the bond of brotherhood -- sign!”
The paper lay on the table, the strong heads bowed thereby,And a wail went up from the peoples: -- “Ay, sign -- give rest, for we die!”A hand was stretched to the goose-quill, a fist was cramped to scrawl,When -- the laugh of a blue-eyed maiden ran clear through the council-hall.
And each one heard Her laughing as each one saw Her plain --Saidie, Mimi, or Olga, Gretchen, or Mary Jane.And the Spirit of Man that is in Him to the light of the vision woke;And the men drew back from the paper, as a Yankee delegate spoke: --
“There's a girl in Jersey City who works on the telephone;We're going to hitch our horses and dig for a house of our own,With gas and water connections, and steam-heat through to the top;And, W. Hohenzollern, I guess I shall work till I drop.”
And an English delegate thundered: -- “The weak an' the lame be blowed!I've a berth in the Sou'-West workshops, a home in the Wandsworth Road;And till the 'sociation has footed my buryin' bill,I work for the kids an' the missus. Pull up? I be damned if I will!”
And over the German benches the bearded whisper ran: --“Lager, der girls und der dollars, dey makes or dey breaks a man.If Schmitt haf collared der dollars, he collars der girl deremit;But if Schmitt bust in der pizness, we collars der girl from Schmitt.”
They passed one resolution: -- “Your sub-committee believeYou can lighten the curse of Adam when you've lightened the curse of Eve.But till we are built like angels, with hammer and chisel and pen,We will work for ourself and a woman, for ever and ever, amen.”
Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser held --The day that they razored the Grindstone, the day that the Cat was belled,The day of the Figs from Thistles, the day of the Twisted Sands,The day that the laugh of a maiden made light of the Lords of Their Hands.
Words in this poem
- kaiser n.
- The ancient title of emperors of Germany assumed by King William of Prussia when crowned sovereign of the new German empire in 1871. [Gr., fr. L. Caesar. Cf. Kesar, and Czar.]
- pant v. i.
- To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion or from eagerness or excitement; to respire with heaving of the breast; to gasp. [Cf. F. panteler to gasp for breath, OF. panteisier to be breathless, F. pantois out of breath; perh. akin to E. phantom, the verb prob. orig. meaning, to have t]
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- brummagem a.
- Counterfeit; gaudy but worthless; sham. [Birmingham (formerly Bromwycham), Eng., "the great mart and manufactory of gilt toys, cheap jewelry," etc.]
- 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.
- scrawl v. t.
- To draw or mark awkwardly and irregularly; to write hastily and carelessly; to scratch; to scribble; as, to scrawl a letter. [Probably corrupted from scrabble.]
- jane n.
- A coin of Genoa; any small coin. [LL. Janua Genoa; L. Genua, also OE. Jean.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- berth v. t.
- To give an anchorage to, or a place to lie at; to place in a berth; as, she was berthed stem to stern with the Adelaide.
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
- belled a.
- Hung with a bell or bells.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Imperial Rescript 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, An Imperial Rescript, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/an-imperial-rescript.html, id L16780.
Form and metre
An Imperial Rescript is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic heptameter. 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.2 syllables.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 decreedA · needA · sweatB · setB
- 2 AABB drewA · creweA · soilB · toilB
- 3 AABB seekA · weakA · lineB · signB
- 4 AABB therebyA · dieA · scrawlB · hallB
- 5 AABB plainA · janeA · wokeB · spokeB
- 6 AABB telephoneA · ownA · topB · dropB
- 7 AABB blowedA · roadA · billB · willB
- 8 AABB ranA · manA · deremitB · schmittB
- 9 AABB believeA · eveA · penB · amenB
- 10 AABB heldA · belledA · sandsB · handsB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser decreed, | 15 | ·······/˘·/˘/˘/ |
| To ease the strong of their burden, to help the weak in their need, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| He sent a word to the peoples, who struggle, and pant, and sweat, | 15 | ······/˘·/˘···· |
| That the straw might be counted fairly and the tally of bricks be set. | 17 | ·····/˘/˘··/˘···· |
| The Lords of Their Hands assembled; from the East and the West they drew -- | 16 | ·····˘/˘········ |
| Baltimore, Lille, and Essen, Brummagem, Clyde, and Crewe. | 13 | /˘···/˘/˘˘··· |
| And some were black from the furnace, and some were brown from the soil, | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| And some were blue from the dye-vat; but all were wearied of toil. | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| And the young King said: -- “I have found it, the road to the rest ye seek: | 16 | ················ |
| The strong shall wait for the weary, the hale shall halt for the weak; | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| With the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line, | 15 | ··/···/˘······· |
| Ye shall march to peace and plenty in the bond of brotherhood -- sign!” | 16 | ······/˘····/˘·· |
| The paper lay on the table, the strong heads bowed thereby, | 14 | ·/˘···/˘······ |
| And a wail went up from the peoples: -- “Ay, sign -- give rest, for we die!” | 16 | ·······/˘······· |
| A hand was stretched to the goose-quill, a fist was cramped to scrawl, | 14 | ·············· |
| When -- the laugh of a blue-eyed maiden ran clear through the council-hall. | 16 | ·······/˘····/˘· |
| And each one heard Her laughing as each one saw Her plain -- | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Saidie, Mimi, or Olga, Gretchen, or Mary Jane. | 13 | ··/˘·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| And the Spirit of Man that is in Him to the light of the vision woke; | 17 | ··/···········/˘· |
| And the men drew back from the paper, as a Yankee delegate spoke: -- | 17 | ·······/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| “There's a girl in Jersey City who works on the telephone; | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| We're going to hitch our horses and dig for a house of our own, | 15 | ·/··//˘······/· |
| With gas and water connections, and steam-heat through to the top; | 15 | ···/˘˘/˘······· |
| And, W. Hohenzollern, I guess I shall work till I drop.” | 15 | ·/˘············ |
| And an English delegate thundered: -- “The weak an' the lame be blowed! | 16 | ··/˘/˘·/˘······· |
| I've a berth in the Sou'-West workshops, a home in the Wandsworth Road; | 16 | ·······/········ |
| And till the 'sociation has footed my buryin' bill, | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| I work for the kids an' the missus. Pull up? I be damned if I will!” | 17 | ·······/˘········ |
| And over the German benches the bearded whisper ran: -- | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘/˘· |
| “Lager, der girls und der dollars, dey makes or dey breaks a man. | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| If Schmitt haf collared der dollars, he collars der girl deremit; | 16 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘····· |
| But if Schmitt bust in der pizness, we collars der girl from Schmitt.” | 15 | ·········/˘···· |
| They passed one resolution: -- “Your sub-committee believe | 14 | ····˘/˘··˘/˘˘/ |
| You can lighten the curse of Adam when you've lightened the curse of Eve. | 17 | ··/˘···/˘··/˘···· |
| But till we are built like angels, with hammer and chisel and pen, | 16 | ······/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| We will work for ourself and a woman, for ever and ever, amen.” | 16 | ····˘/··/˘·/·/˘/ |
| Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser held -- | 14 | ·······/˘·/˘/· |
| The day that they razored the Grindstone, the day that the Cat was belled, | 16 | ····/˘·/········ |
| The day of the Figs from Thistles, the day of the Twisted Sands, | 15 | ······/˘····/˘· |
| The day that the laugh of a maiden made light of the Lords of Their Hands. | 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.