The Derelict
And reports the derelict Mary Pollock still at sea.
I was the staunchest of our fleetTill the sea rose beneath our feetUnheralded, in hatred past all measure.Into his pits he stamped my crew,Buffeted, blinded, bound and threw,Bidding me eyeless wait upon his pleasure.
Man made me, and my willIs to my maker still,Whom now the currents con, the rollers steer --Lifting forlorn to spyTrailed smoke along the sky,Falling afraid lest any keel come near!
Wrenched as the lips of thirst,Wried, dried, and split and burst,Bone-bleached my decks, wind-scoured to the graining;And jarred at every rollThe gear that was my soulAnswers the anguish of my beams' complaining.
For life that crammed me full,Gangs of the prying gullThat shriek and scrabble on the riven hatches!For roar that dumbed the gale,My hawse-pipes guttering wail,Sobbing my heart out through the uncounted watches!
Blind in the hot blue ringThrough all my points I swing --Swing and return to shift the sun anew.Blind in my well-known skyI hear the stars go by,Mocking the prow that cannot hold one true!
White on my wasted pathWave after wave in wrathFrets 'gainst his fellow, warring where to send me.Flung forward, heaved aside,Witless and dazed I bideThe mercy of the comber that shall end me.
North where the bergs careen,The spray of seas unseenSmokes round my head and freezes in the falling;South where the corals breed,The footless, floating weedFolds me and fouls me, strake on strake upcrawling.
I that was clean to runMy race against the sun --Strength on the deep, am bawd to all disaster --Whipped forth by night to meetMy sister's careless feet,And with a kiss betray her to my master!
Man made me, and my willIs to my maker still --To him and his, our peoples at their pier:Lifting in hope to spyTrailed smoke along the sky,Falling afraid lest any keel come near!
Words in this poem 17
- derelict a.
- Given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; left and abandoned; as, derelict lands. [L. derelictus, p. p. of derelinquere to forsake wholly, to abandon; de- + relinquere to leave. See Relinquish.]
- eyeless a.
- Without eyes; blind.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- bleached a.
- Whitened; make white.
- graining n.
- Indentation; roughening; milling, as on edges of coins.
- prying a.
- Inspecting closely or impertinently.
- scrabble v. i.
- To scrape, paw, or scratch with the hands; to proceed by clawing with the hands and feet; to scramble; as, to scrabble up a cliff or a tree. [Freq. of scrape. Cf. Scramble, Scrawl, v. t.]
- sobbing n.
- A series of short, convulsive inspirations, the glottis being suddenly closed so that little or no air enters into the lungs.
- witless a.
- Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- comber n.
- One who combs; one whose occupation it is to comb wool, flax, 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,]
- careen v. t.
- To cause (a vessel) to lean over so that she floats on one side, leaving the other side out of water and accessible for repairs below the water line; to case to be off the keel. [OF. cariner, F. caréner, fr. OF. carène, the bottom of a ship, keel, fr. L. carina.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- strake n.
- A streak. Spenser."White strake." Gen. xxx. 37. [See Streak.]
- bawd n.
- A person who keeps a house of prostitution, or procures women for a lewd purpose; a procurer or procuress; a lewd person; -- usually applied to a woman. [OE. baude, OF. balt, baut, baude, bold, merry, perh. fr. OHG. bald bold; or fr. Celtic, cf. W. baw dirt. Cf. Bold, Bawdry.]
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Derelict 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, The Derelict, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-derelict.html, id L16816.
Form and metre
The Derelict is 55 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 2 AABCCB fleetA · feetA · measureB · crewC · threwC · pleasureB
- 3 AABCCB willA · stillA · steerB · spyC · skyC · nearB
- 4 AABCCB thirstA · burstA · grainingB · rollC · soulC · complainingB
- 5 ---AA- full · gull · hatches · galeA · wailA · watches
- 6 AABCCB ringA · swingA · anewB · skyC · byC · trueB
- 7 AABCCB pathA · wrathA · meB · asideC · bideC · meB
- 8 AABCCB careenA · unseenA · fallingB · breedC · weedC · upcrawlingB
- 9 AABCCB runA · sunA · disasterB · meetC · feetC · masterB
- 10 AABCCB willA · stillA · pierB · spyC · skyC · nearB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And reports the derelict Mary Pollock still at sea. | 14 | ·˘/·/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| I was the staunchest of our fleet | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Till the sea rose beneath our feet | 8 | ······/· |
| Unheralded, in hatred past all measure. | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| Into his pits he stamped my crew, | 8 | ········ |
| Buffeted, blinded, bound and threw, | 7 | ˘//˘··· |
| Bidding me eyeless wait upon his pleasure. | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Man made me, and my will | 6 | ······ |
| Is to my maker still, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Whom now the currents con, the rollers steer -- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Lifting forlorn to spy | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| Trailed smoke along the sky, | 7 | ·˘·˘/·· |
| Falling afraid lest any keel come near! | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Wrenched as the lips of thirst, | 7 | ·˘····· |
| Wried, dried, and split and burst, | 6 | ······ |
| Bone-bleached my decks, wind-scoured to the graining; | 10 | ·····/··/˘ |
| And jarred at every roll | 8 | ··˘·/˘˘· |
| The gear that was my soul | 6 | ······ |
| Answers the anguish of my beams' complaining. | 11 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘ |
| For life that crammed me full, | 7 | ····˘·· |
| Gangs of the prying gull | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That shriek and scrabble on the riven hatches! | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| For roar that dumbed the gale, | 7 | ····˘·· |
| My hawse-pipes guttering wail, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Sobbing my heart out through the uncounted watches! | 12 | /˘······/˘/˘ |
| Blind in the hot blue ring | 6 | ······ |
| Through all my points I swing -- | 6 | ······ |
| Swing and return to shift the sun anew. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Blind in my well-known sky | 6 | ······ |
| I hear the stars go by, | 6 | ······ |
| Mocking the prow that cannot hold one true! | 10 | /˘···˘/··· |
| White on my wasted path | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wave after wave in wrath | 6 | ······ |
| Frets 'gainst his fellow, warring where to send me. | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Flung forward, heaved aside, | 7 | ·/˘·˘˘/ |
| Witless and dazed I bide | 7 | /˘··˘·· |
| The mercy of the comber that shall end me. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| North where the bergs careen, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The spray of seas unseen | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Smokes round my head and freezes in the falling; | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| South where the corals breed, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The footless, floating weed | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Folds me and fouls me, strake on strake upcrawling. | 11 | ··········· |
| I that was clean to run | 6 | ······ |
| My race against the sun -- | 6 | ······ |
| Strength on the deep, am bawd to all disaster -- | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Whipped forth by night to meet | 7 | ·˘····· |
| My sister's careless feet, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And with a kiss betray her to my master! | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| Man made me, and my will | 6 | ······ |
| Is to my maker still -- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To him and his, our peoples at their pier: | 10 | ····//˘··· |
| Lifting in hope to spy | 6 | /˘···· |
| Trailed smoke along the sky, | 7 | ·˘·˘/·· |
| Falling afraid lest any keel come near! | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
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.