The Jacket
Through the Plagues of Egyp' we was chasin' Arabi,Gettin' down an' shovin' in the sun;An' you might 'ave called us dirty, an' you might ha' called us dry,An' you might 'ave 'eard us talkin' at the gun.But the Captain 'ad 'is jacket, an' the jacket it was new --An' the wettin' of the jacket is the proper thing to do,Nor we didn't keep 'im waitin' very long.
One day they gave us orders for to shell a sand redoubt,Loadin' down the axle-arms with case;But the Captain knew 'is dooty, an' he took the crackers outAn' he put some proper liquor in its place.An' the Captain saw the shrapnel, which is six-an'-thirty clear.“Will you draw the weight,” sez 'e, “or will you draw the beer?”An' we didn't keep 'im waitin' very long.For the Captain, etc.
Then we trotted gentle, not to break the bloomin' glass,Though the Arabites 'ad all their ranges marked;But we dursn't 'ardly gallop, for the most was bottled Bass,An' we'd dreamed of it since we was disembarked:So we fired economic with the shells we 'ad in 'and,But the beggars under cover 'ad the impidence to stand,An' we couldn't keep 'em waitin' very long.And the Captain, etc.
So we finished 'arf the liquor (an' the Captain took champagne),An' the Arabites was shootin' all the while;An' we left our wounded 'appy with the empties on the plain,An' we used the bloomin' guns for pro-jec-tile!We limbered up an' galloped -- there were nothin' else to do --An' the Battery came a-boundin' like a boundin' kangaroo,But they didn't watch us comin' very long.As the Captain, etc.
We was goin' most extended -- we was drivin' very fine,An' the Arabites were loosin' 'igh an' wide,Till the Captain took the glassy with a rattlin' right incline,An' we dropped upon their 'eads the other side.Then we give 'em quarter -- such as 'adn't up and cut,An' the Captain stood a limberful of fizzy -- somethin' Brutt,But we didn't leave it fizzing very long.For the Captain, etc.
We might ha' been court-martialled, but it all come out all rightWhen they signalled us to join the main command.There was every round expended, there was every gunner tight,An' the Captain waved a corkscrew in 'is 'and.But the Captain 'ad 'is jacket, etc.
Words in this poem
- redoubt v. t.
- To stand in dread of; to regard with fear; to dread. [F. redouter, formerly also spelt redoubter; fr. L. pref. re- re- + dubitare to doubt, in LL., to fear. See Doubt.]
- shrapnel a.
- Applied as an appellation to a kind of shell invented by Gen.
- bottled a.
- Put into bottles; inclosed in bottles; pent up in, or as in, a bottle.
- economic a.
- Pertaining to the household; domestic. [F. économique, L. oeconomicus orderly, methodical, Gr. Economy.]
- champagne n.
- A light wine, of several kinds, originally made in the province of Champagne, in France. [F. See Champaign.]
- brutt v. i.
- To browse. Evelyn. [F. brouter, OF. brouster. See Browse, n.]
- gunner n.
- One who works a gun, whether on land or sea; a cannoneer.
- corkscrew n.
- An instrument with a screw or a steel spiral for drawing corks from bottles. Corkscrew starts, a spiral staircase around a solid newel.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Jacket 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 Jacket, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-jacket.html, id L16847.
Form and metre
The Jacket is 44 lines in 6 stanzas. 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.3 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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-ABB- arabi · sunA · dry · gunA · newB · doB · long
- 2 ABABCC-- redoubtA · caseB · outA · placeB · clearC · beerC · long · etc
- 3 A-A-BB-- glassA · marked · bassA · disembarked · andB · standB · long · etc
- 4 ABABCC-- champagneA · whileB · plainA · tileB · doC · kangarooC · long · etc
- 5 ABAB---- fineA · wideB · inclineA · sideB · cut · brutt · long · etc
- 6 ABAB- rightA · commandB · tightA · andB · etc
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Through the Plagues of Egyp' we was chasin' Arabi, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| Gettin' down an' shovin' in the sun; | 9 | /˘······· |
| An' you might 'ave called us dirty, an' you might ha' called us dry, | 16 | ···/˘··/˘······· |
| An' you might 'ave 'eard us talkin' at the gun. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| But the Captain 'ad 'is jacket, an' the jacket it was new -- | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| An' the wettin' of the jacket is the proper thing to do, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor we didn't keep 'im waitin' very long. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| One day they gave us orders for to shell a sand redoubt, | 14 | ·····/˘·····˘/ |
| Loadin' down the axle-arms with case; | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| But the Captain knew 'is dooty, an' he took the crackers out | 15 | ··/˘········/˘· |
| An' he put some proper liquor in its place. | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| An' the Captain saw the shrapnel, which is six-an'-thirty clear. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| “Will you draw the weight,” sez 'e, “or will you draw the beer?” | 13 | ············· |
| An' we didn't keep 'im waitin' very long. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For the Captain, etc. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| Then we trotted gentle, not to break the bloomin' glass, | 13 | ··/˘/˘······· |
| Though the Arabites 'ad all their ranges marked; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| But we dursn't 'ardly gallop, for the most was bottled Bass, | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| An' we'd dreamed of it since we was disembarked: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So we fired economic with the shells we 'ad in 'and, | 14 | ··/·˘/˘······· |
| But the beggars under cover 'ad the impidence to stand, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| An' we couldn't keep 'em waitin' very long. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And the Captain, etc. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| So we finished 'arf the liquor (an' the Captain took champagne), | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| An' the Arabites was shootin' all the while; | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| An' we left our wounded 'appy with the empties on the plain, | 15 | ···//˘····/˘··· |
| An' we used the bloomin' guns for pro-jec-tile! | 11 | ··········· |
| We limbered up an' galloped -- there were nothin' else to do -- | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| An' the Battery came a-boundin' like a boundin' kangaroo, | 15 | ··/˘·········˘/ |
| But they didn't watch us comin' very long. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| As the Captain, etc. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| We was goin' most extended -- we was drivin' very fine, | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘····/˘· |
| An' the Arabites were loosin' 'igh an' wide, | 11 | ··········· |
| Till the Captain took the glassy with a rattlin' right incline, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘·····˘/ |
| An' we dropped upon their 'eads the other side. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Then we give 'em quarter -- such as 'adn't up and cut, | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| An' the Captain stood a limberful of fizzy -- somethin' Brutt, | 15 | ··/˘········/˘· |
| But we didn't leave it fizzing very long. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For the Captain, etc. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| We might ha' been court-martialled, but it all come out all right | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| When they signalled us to join the main command. | 11 | ··/˘·····˘/ |
| There was every round expended, there was every gunner tight, | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| An' the Captain waved a corkscrew in 'is 'and. | 11 | ··/˘··/···· |
| But the Captain 'ad 'is jacket, etc. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘ |
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.