The Ladies
I've taken my fun where I've found it;I've rogued an' I've ranged in my time;I've 'ad my pickin' o' sweet'earts,An' four o' the lot was prime.One was an 'arf-caste widow,One was a woman at Prome,One was the wife of a jemadar-sais,An' one is a girl at 'ome.
Now I aren't no 'and with the ladies,For, takin' 'em all along,You never can say till you've tried 'em,An' then you are like to be wrong.There's times when you'll think that you mightn't,There's times when you'll know that you might;But the things you will learn from the Yellow an' Brown,They'll 'elp you a lot with the White!
I was a young un at 'Oogli,Shy as a girl to begin;Aggie de Castrer she made me,An' Aggie was clever as sin;Older than me, but my first un --More like a mother she were --Showed me the way to promotion an' pay,An' I learned about women from 'er!
Then I was ordered to Burma,Actin' in charge o' Bazar,An' I got me a tiddy live 'eathenThrough buyin' supplies off 'er pa.Funny an' yellow an' faithful --Doll in a teacup she were,But we lived on the square, like a true-married pair,An' I learned about women from 'er!
Then we was shifted to Neemuch(Or I might ha' been keepin' 'er now),An' I took with a shiny she-devil,The wife of a nigger at Mhow;'Taught me the gipsy-folks' bolee;Kind o' volcano she were,For she knifed me one night 'cause I wished she was white,And I learned about women from 'er!
Then I come 'ome in the trooper,'Long of a kid o' sixteen --Girl from a convent at Meerut,The straightest I ever 'ave seen.Love at first sight was 'er trouble,She didn't know what it were;An' I wouldn't do such, 'cause I liked 'er too much,But -- I learned about women from 'er!
I've taken my fun where I've found it,An' now I must pay for my fun,For the more you 'ave known o' the othersThe less will you settle to one;An' the end of it's sittin' and thinkin',An' dreamin' Hell-fires to see;So be warned by my lot (which I know you will not),An' learn about women from me!
What did the Colonel's Lady think?Nobody never knew.Somebody asked the Sergeant's wife,An' she told 'em true!When you get to a man in the case,They're like as a row of pins --For the Colonel's Lady an' Judy O'GradyAre sisters under their skins!
Words in this poem
- bazar n.
- In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale. [Per. bazar market.]
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
- teacup n.
- A small cup from which to drink tea.
- shiny a.
- Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
- nigger n.
- A negro; -- in vulgar derision or depreciation.
- trooper n.
- A soldier in a body of cavalry; a cavalryman; also, the horse of a cavalryman.
- nobody n.
- No person; no one; not anybody. [No, a. + body.]
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ladies 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 Ladies, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-ladies.html, id L16842.
Form and metre
The Ladies is 64 lines in 8 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-A-B-B it · timeA · sweet'earts · primeA · widow · promeB · sais · omeB
- 2 -A-A-B-B ladies · alongA · em · wrongA · mightn't · mightB · brown · whiteB
- 3 -A-A-B-B oogli · beginA · me · sinA · un · wereB · pay · erB
- 4 -----A-A burma · bazar · eathen · pa · faithful · wereA · pair · erA
- 5 -A-A-B-B neemuch · nowA · devil · mhowA · bolee · wereB · white · erB
- 6 -A-A-B-B trooper · sixteenA · meerut · seenA · trouble · wereB · much · erB
- 7 -A-AAB-B it · funA · others · oneA · thinkinA · seeB · not · meB
- 8 -A-A-B-B think · knewA · wife · trueA · case · pinsB · o'grady · skinsB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I've taken my fun where I've found it; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I've rogued an' I've ranged in my time; | 8 | ········ |
| I've 'ad my pickin' o' sweet'earts, | 8 | ········ |
| An' four o' the lot was prime. | 7 | ······· |
| One was an 'arf-caste widow, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| One was a woman at Prome, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| One was the wife of a jemadar-sais, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' one is a girl at 'ome. | 7 | ······· |
| Now I aren't no 'and with the ladies, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| For, takin' 'em all along, | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| You never can say till you've tried 'em, | 8 | ·/······ |
| An' then you are like to be wrong. | 8 | ········ |
| There's times when you'll think that you mightn't, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| There's times when you'll know that you might; | 8 | ········ |
| But the things you will learn from the Yellow an' Brown, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| They'll 'elp you a lot with the White! | 8 | ········ |
| I was a young un at 'Oogli, | 8 | ········ |
| Shy as a girl to begin; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Aggie de Castrer she made me, | 8 | /˘······ |
| An' Aggie was clever as sin; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Older than me, but my first un -- | 8 | /˘······ |
| More like a mother she were -- | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Showed me the way to promotion an' pay, | 10 | ·····˘/˘·· |
| An' I learned about women from 'er! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Then I was ordered to Burma, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Actin' in charge o' Bazar, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| An' I got me a tiddy live 'eathen | 10 | ·········· |
| Through buyin' supplies off 'er pa. | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Funny an' yellow an' faithful -- | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Doll in a teacup she were, | 7 | ···/··· |
| But we lived on the square, like a true-married pair, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| An' I learned about women from 'er! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Then we was shifted to Neemuch | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| (Or I might ha' been keepin' 'er now), | 9 | ········· |
| An' I took with a shiny she-devil, | 9 | ·····/˘·/ |
| The wife of a nigger at Mhow; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| 'Taught me the gipsy-folks' bolee; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Kind o' volcano she were, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| For she knifed me one night 'cause I wished she was white, | 12 | ············ |
| And I learned about women from 'er! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Then I come 'ome in the trooper, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| 'Long of a kid o' sixteen -- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Girl from a convent at Meerut, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The straightest I ever 'ave seen. | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| Love at first sight was 'er trouble, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| She didn't know what it were; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| An' I wouldn't do such, 'cause I liked 'er too much, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| But -- I learned about women from 'er! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I've taken my fun where I've found it, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| An' now I must pay for my fun, | 8 | ········ |
| For the more you 'ave known o' the others | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| The less will you settle to one; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| An' the end of it's sittin' and thinkin', | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| An' dreamin' Hell-fires to see; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| So be warned by my lot (which I know you will not), | 12 | ············ |
| An' learn about women from me! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| What did the Colonel's Lady think? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Nobody never knew. | 6 | /··/˘· |
| Somebody asked the Sergeant's wife, | 8 | /·˘··/˘· |
| An' she told 'em true! | 5 | ····· |
| When you get to a man in the case, | 9 | ········· |
| They're like as a row of pins -- | 7 | ······· |
| For the Colonel's Lady an' Judy O'Grady | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Are sisters under their skins! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.