The Lament of the Border Cattle Thief
O woe is me for the merry lifeI led beyond the Bar,And a treble woe for my winsome wifeThat weeps at Shalimar.
They have taken away my long jezail,My shield and sabre fine,And heaved me into the Central jailFor lifting of the kine.
The steer may low within the byre,The Jat may tend his grain,But there'll be neither loot nor fireTill I come back again.
And God have mercy on the JatWhen once my fetters fall,And Heaven defend the farmer's hutWhen I am loosed from thrall.
It's woe to bend the stubborn backAbove the grinching quern,It's woe to hear the leg-bar clackAnd jingle when I turn!
But for the sorrow and the shame,The brand on me and mine,I'll pay you back in leaping flameAnd loss of the butchered kine.
For every cow I spared beforeIn charity set free,If I may reach my hold once moreI'll reive an honest three.
For every time I raised the lowThat scared the dusty plain,By sword and cord, by torch and towI'll light the land with twain!
Ride hard, ride hard to Abazai,Young Sahib with the yellow hair --Lie close, lie close as khuttucks lie,Fat herds below Bonair!
The one I'll shoot at twilight-tide,At dawn I'll drive the other;The black shall mourn for hoof and hide,The white man for his brother.
'Tis war, red war, I'll give you then,War till my sinews fail;For the wrong you have done to a chief of men,And a thief of the Zukka Kheyl.
And if I fall to your hand afreshI give you leave for the sin,That you cram my throat with the foul pig's flesh,And swing me in the skin!
Words in this poem
- winsome a.
- Cheerful; merry; gay; light-hearted. [AS. wynsum, fr. wynn joy; akin to OS. wunnia, OHG. wunna, wunni, G. wonne, Goth. wunan to rejoice (in unwunands sad), AS. wunian to dwell. Win, v. t., Wont, a.]
- sabre n.
- A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
- byre n.
- A cow house. [N. of Eng.& Scot.] [Cf, Icel. bür pantry, Sw. bur cage,Dan. buur, E.bower.]
- loot n.
- The act of plundering. [Hind. l, Skr. l, l, booty, lup to break, spoil; prob. akin to E. rob.]
- quern n.
- A mill for grinding grain, the upper stone of which was turned by hand; -- used before the invention of windmills and watermills. [AS. cweorn, cwyrn; akin to D. kweern, OHG. quirn, Icel. kvern, Sw. qvarn, Dan. quærn, Goth. qairnus (in asiluqaírnus), Lith. qìrnos, and perh. E. corn.]
- clack v. i.
- To make a sudden, sharp noise, or a succesion of such noises, as by striking an object, or by collision of parts; to rattle; to click. [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. F.claquer to clap, crack, D. klakken, MHG. klac crack, Ir. clagaim I make a noise, ring. Cf. Clack, n., Clatter, Click.]
- jingle v. i.
- To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- sahib n.
- A respectful title or appelation given to Europeans of rank. [Ar. çahib master, lord, fem. çahibah.]
- bonair a.
- Gentle; courteous; complaisant; yielding. [OE., also bonere, OF. bonnaire, Cotgr., abbrev. of debonnaire. See Debonair.]
- 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,]
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lament of the Border Cattle Thief 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 Lament of the Border Cattle Thief, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-lament-of-the-border-cattle-thief.html, id L16767.
Form and metre
The Lament of the Border Cattle Thief is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB lifeA · barB · wifeA · shalimarB
- 2 ABAB jezailA · fineB · jailA · kineB
- 3 ABAB byreA · grainB · fireA · againB
- 4 -A-A jat · fallA · hut · thrallA
- 5 ABAB backA · quernB · clackA · turnB
- 6 ABAB shameA · mineB · flameA · kineB
- 7 ABAB beforeA · freeB · moreA · threeB
- 8 ABAB lowA · plainB · towA · twainB
- 9 -A-A abazai · hairA · lie · bonairA
- 10 ABAB tideA · otherB · hideA · brotherB
- 11 ABAB thenA · failB · menA · kheylB
- 12 ABAB afreshA · sinB · fleshA · skinB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O woe is me for the merry life | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I led beyond the Bar, | 6 | ······ |
| And a treble woe for my winsome wife | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| That weeps at Shalimar. | 6 | ······ |
| They have taken away my long jezail, | 10 | ··/˘˘/···· |
| My shield and sabre fine, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And heaved me into the Central jail | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For lifting of the kine. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The steer may low within the byre, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The Jat may tend his grain, | 6 | ······ |
| But there'll be neither loot nor fire | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··/ |
| Till I come back again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And God have mercy on the Jat | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When once my fetters fall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Heaven defend the farmer's hut | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| When I am loosed from thrall. | 6 | ······ |
| It's woe to bend the stubborn back | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above the grinching quern, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It's woe to hear the leg-bar clack | 8 | ········ |
| And jingle when I turn! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But for the sorrow and the shame, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The brand on me and mine, | 6 | ······ |
| I'll pay you back in leaping flame | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And loss of the butchered kine. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For every cow I spared before | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In charity set free, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| If I may reach my hold once more | 8 | ········ |
| I'll reive an honest three. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For every time I raised the low | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That scared the dusty plain, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By sword and cord, by torch and tow | 8 | ········ |
| I'll light the land with twain! | 6 | ······ |
| Ride hard, ride hard to Abazai, | 8 | ········ |
| Young Sahib with the yellow hair -- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lie close, lie close as khuttucks lie, | 8 | ········ |
| Fat herds below Bonair! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The one I'll shoot at twilight-tide, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| At dawn I'll drive the other; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The black shall mourn for hoof and hide, | 8 | ········ |
| The white man for his brother. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| 'Tis war, red war, I'll give you then, | 8 | ········ |
| War till my sinews fail; | 6 | ······ |
| For the wrong you have done to a chief of men, | 11 | ··········· |
| And a thief of the Zukka Kheyl. | 8 | ········ |
| And if I fall to your hand afresh | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| I give you leave for the sin, | 7 | ······· |
| That you cram my throat with the foul pig's flesh, | 10 | ·········· |
| And swing me in the skin! | 6 | ······ |
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