The King
“Farewell, Romance!” the Cave-men said;“With bone well carved he went away,Flint arms the ignoble arrowhead,And jasper tips the spear to-day.Changed are the Gods of Hunt and Dance,And he with these. Farewell, Romance!”
“Farewell, Romance!” the Lake-folk sighed;“We lift the weight of flatling years;The caverns of the mountain-sideHold him who scorns our hutted piers.Lost hills whereby we dare not dwell,Guard ye his rest. Romance, farewell!”
“Farewell, Romance!” the Soldier spoke;“By sleight of sword we may not win,But scuffle 'mid uncleanly smokeOf arquebus and culverin.Honour is lost, and none may tellWho paid good blows. Romance, farewell!”
“Farewell, Romance!” the Traders cried;Our keels ha' lain with every sea;The dull-returning wind and tideHeave up the wharf where we would be;The known and noted breezes swellOur trudging sail. Romance, farewell!”
“Good-bye, Romance!” the Skipper said;“He vanished with the coal we burn;Our dial marks full steam ahead,Our speed is timed to half a turn.Sure as the ferried barge we ply'Twixt port and port. Romance, good-bye!”
“Romance!” the season-tickets mourn,“He never ran to catch his train,But passed with coach and guard and horn --And left the local -- late again!”Confound Romance! . . . And all unseenRomance brought up the nine-fifteen.
His hand was on the lever laid,His oil-can soothed the worrying cranks,His whistle waked the snowbound grade,His fog-horn cut the reeking Banks;By dock and deep and mine and millThe Boy-god reckless laboured still!
Robed, crowned and throned, he wove his spell,Where heart-blood beat or hearth-smoke curled,With unconsidered miracle,Hedged in a backward-gazing world;Then taught his chosen bard to say:“Our King was with us -- yesterday!”
Words in this poem 16
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- arrowhead n.
- The head of an arrow.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- flatling adv.
- With the flat side, as of a sword; flatlong; in a prostrate position. [Flat, a. + adverbial suff. -ing.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- 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.]
- sleight n.
- Cunning; craft; artful practice. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl (for sl) slyness, cunning, fr. sl (for sl) sly, cunning. See Sly.]
- culverin n.
- A long cannon of the 16th century, usually an 18-pounder with serpent-shaped handles. [F. coulevrine, prop. fem. of couleuvrin like a serpent, fr. couleuvre adder, fr. L. coluber, colubra.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- keels n.
- Ninepins. See Kayles.
- skipper n.
- One who, or that which, skips.
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- laboured a.
- Bearing marks of labor and effort; elaborately wrought; not easy or natural; as, labored poetry; a labored style.
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
- unconsidered a.
- Not considered or attended to; not regarded; inconsiderable; trifling.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The King 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 King, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-king.html, id L16814.
Form and metre
The King is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCC saidA · awayB · arrowheadA · dayB · danceC · romanceC
- 2 ABABCC sighedA · yearsB · sideA · piersB · dwellC · farewellC
- 3 A-A-BB spokeA · win · smokeA · culverin · tellB · farewellB
- 4 ABABCC criedA · seaB · tideA · beB · swellC · farewellC
- 5 ABABCC saidA · burnB · aheadA · turnB · plyC · byeC
- 6 ABABCC mournA · trainB · hornA · againB · unseenC · fifteenC
- 7 ABABCC laidA · cranksB · gradeA · banksB · millC · stillC
- 8 ABABCC spellA · curledB · miracleA · worldB · sayC · yesterdayC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “Farewell, Romance!” the Cave-men said; | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| “With bone well carved he went away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Flint arms the ignoble arrowhead, | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘· |
| And jasper tips the spear to-day. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Changed are the Gods of Hunt and Dance, | 8 | ········ |
| And he with these. Farewell, Romance!” | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| “Farewell, Romance!” the Lake-folk sighed; | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| “We lift the weight of flatling years; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The caverns of the mountain-side | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Hold him who scorns our hutted piers. | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Lost hills whereby we dare not dwell, | 8 | ········ |
| Guard ye his rest. Romance, farewell!” | 8 | ····˘/·/ |
| “Farewell, Romance!” the Soldier spoke; | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| “By sleight of sword we may not win, | 8 | ········ |
| But scuffle 'mid uncleanly smoke | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of arquebus and culverin. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Honour is lost, and none may tell | 8 | /˘······ |
| Who paid good blows. Romance, farewell!” | 8 | ····˘/·/ |
| “Farewell, Romance!” the Traders cried; | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Our keels ha' lain with every sea; | 8 | /····/˘· |
| The dull-returning wind and tide | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Heave up the wharf where we would be; | 8 | ········ |
| The known and noted breezes swell | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Our trudging sail. Romance, farewell!” | 8 | //˘·˘/·/ |
| “Good-bye, Romance!” the Skipper said; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| “He vanished with the coal we burn; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Our dial marks full steam ahead, | 8 | //˘···˘/ |
| Our speed is timed to half a turn. | 8 | /······· |
| Sure as the ferried barge we ply | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Twixt port and port. Romance, good-bye!” | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| “Romance!” the season-tickets mourn, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| “He never ran to catch his train, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But passed with coach and guard and horn -- | 8 | ········ |
| And left the local -- late again!” | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Confound Romance! . . . And all unseen | 8 | ˘/˘/··˘/ |
| Romance brought up the nine-fifteen. | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| His hand was on the lever laid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His oil-can soothed the worrying cranks, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His whistle waked the snowbound grade, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| His fog-horn cut the reeking Banks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By dock and deep and mine and mill | 8 | ········ |
| The Boy-god reckless laboured still! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Robed, crowned and throned, he wove his spell, | 8 | ········ |
| Where heart-blood beat or hearth-smoke curled, | 8 | ········ |
| With unconsidered miracle, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Hedged in a backward-gazing world; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Then taught his chosen bard to say: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “Our King was with us -- yesterday!” | 8 | /····/˘· |
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.