The Last Chantey
Thus said The Lord in the Vault above the CherubimCalling to the Angels and the Souls in their degree:“Lo! Earth has passed awayOn the smoke of Judgment Day.That Our word may be established shall We gather up the sea?”
Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners:“Plague upon the hurricane that made us furl and flee!But the war is done between us,In the deep the Lord hath seen us --Our bones we'll leave the barracout', and God may sink the sea!”
Then said the soul of Judas that betray]\ed Him:“Lord, hast Thou forgotten Thy covenant with me?How once a year I goTo cool me on the floe?And Ye take my day of mercy if Ye take away the sea!”
Then said the soul of the Angel of the Off-shore Wind:(He that bits the thunder when the bull-mouthed breakers flee):“I have watch and ward to keepO'er Thy wonders on the deep,And Ye take mine honour from me if Ye take away the sea!”
Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners:“Nay, but we were angry, and a hasty folk are we!If we worked the ship togetherTill she foundered in foul weather,Are we babes that we should clamour for a vengeance on the sea?”
Then said the souls of the slaves that men threw overboard:“Kennelled in the picaroon a weary band were we;But Thy arm was strong to save,And it touched us on the wave,And we drowsed the long tides idle till Thy Trumpets tore the sea.”
Then cried the soul of the stout Apostle Paul to God:“Once we frapped a ship, and she laboured woundily.There were fourteen score of these,And they blessed Thee on their knees,When they learned Thy Grace and Glory under Malta by the sea!”
Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners,Plucking at their harps, and they plucked unhandily:“Our thumbs are rough and tarred,And the tune is something hard --May we lift a Deep-sea Chantey such as seamen use at sea?”
Then said the souls of the gentlemen-adventurers --Fettered wrist to bar all for red iniquity:“Ho, we revel in our chainsO'er the sorrow that was Spain's;Heave or sink it, leave or drink it, we were masters of the sea!”
Up spake the soul of a gray Gothavn 'speckshioner --(He that led the flinching in the fleets of fair Dundee):“Oh, the ice-blink white and near,And the bowhead breaching clear!Will Ye whelm them all for wantonness that wallow in the sea?”
Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners,Crying: “Under Heaven, here is neither lead nor lee!Must we sing for evermoreOn the windless, glassy floor?Take back your golden fiddles and we'll beat to open sea!”
Then stooped the Lord, and He called the good sea up to Him,And 'stablished his borders unto all eternity,That such as have no pleasureFor to praise the Lord by measure,They may enter into galleons and serve Him on the sea.
Sun, wind, and cloud shall fail not from the face of it,Stinging, ringing spindrift, nor the fulmar flying free;And the ships shall go abroadTo the Glory of the LordWho heard the silly sailor-folk and gave them back their sea!
Words in this poem 20
- cherubim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.
- 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,]
- furl v. t.
- To draw up or gather into close compass; to wrap or roll, as a sail, close to the yard, stay, or mast, or, as a flag, close to or around its staff, securing it there by a gasket or line. Totten. [Contr. fr. furdle, fr. fardel bundle: cf. F. ferler to furl, OF. fardeler to pack. See Furdle, Fardel, and cf. Farl.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- floe n.
- A low, flat mass of floating ice. Floe rat (Zoöl.), a seal (Phoca foetida). [Cf. Dan. flag af iis, iisflage, Sw. flaga, flake, isflaga, isflake. See Flag a flat stone.]
- 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.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- 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.]
- clamour n.
- A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
- picaroon n.
- One who plunders; especially, a plunderer of wrecks; a pirate; a corsair; a marauder; a sharper. Sir W. Temple. [Sp. picaron, aug. of picaro roguish, n., a rogue.]
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- laboured a.
- Bearing marks of labor and effort; elaborately wrought; not easy or natural; as, labored poetry; a labored style.
- woundily adv.
- In a woundy manner; excessively; woundy.
- chantey n.
- A sailor's song.
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- bowhead n.
- The great Arctic or Greenland whale. (Balæna mysticetus). See Baleen, and Whale.
- whelm v. t.
- To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- windless a.
- Having no wind; calm.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Last Chantey 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 Last Chantey, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-last-chantey.html, id L16809.
Form and metre
The Last Chantey is 65 lines in 13 stanzas of 5 lines each. 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.8 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -ABBA cherubim · degreeA · awayB · dayB · seaA
- 2 -ABBA mariners · fleeA · usB · usB · seaA
- 3 -ABBA him · meA · goB · floeB · seaA
- 4 -ABBA wind · fleeA · keepB · deepB · seaA
- 5 -ABBA mariners · weA · togetherB · weatherB · seaA
- 6 -ABBA overboard · weA · saveB · waveB · seaA
- 7 --AA- god · woundily · theseA · kneesA · sea
- 8 --AA- mariners · unhandily · tarredA · hardA · sea
- 9 --AA- adventurers · iniquity · chainsA · spain'sA · sea
- 10 -ABBA speckshioner · dundeeA · nearB · clearB · seaA
- 11 -ABBA mariners · leeA · evermoreB · floorB · seaA
- 12 --AA- him · eternity · pleasureA · measureA · sea
- 13 -A--A it · freeA · abroad · lord · seaA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thus said The Lord in the Vault above the Cherubim | 13 | ··········/˘˘ |
| Calling to the Angels and the Souls in their degree: | 13 | /˘··/˘·····˘/ |
| “Lo! Earth has passed away | 7 | ····˘˘/ |
| On the smoke of Judgment Day. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That Our word may be established shall We gather up the sea?” | 15 | ·/···˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners: | 12 | ······/˘/˘/˘ |
| “Plague upon the hurricane that made us furl and flee! | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| But the war is done between us, | 8 | ········ |
| In the deep the Lord hath seen us -- | 8 | ········ |
| Our bones we'll leave the barracout', and God may sink the sea!” | 14 | /············· |
| Then said the soul of Judas that betray]\ed Him: | 12 | ·····/˘·˘/·· |
| “Lord, hast Thou forgotten Thy covenant with me? | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| How once a year I go | 6 | ······ |
| To cool me on the floe? | 6 | ······ |
| And Ye take my day of mercy if Ye take away the sea!” | 15 | ······/˘···˘/·· |
| Then said the soul of the Angel of the Off-shore Wind: | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| (He that bits the thunder when the bull-mouthed breakers flee): | 13 | ····/˘····/˘· |
| “I have watch and ward to keep | 7 | ······· |
| O'er Thy wonders on the deep, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And Ye take mine honour from me if Ye take away the sea!” | 15 | ····/˘·····˘/·· |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners: | 12 | ······/˘/˘/˘ |
| “Nay, but we were angry, and a hasty folk are we! | 13 | ····/˘··/˘··· |
| If we worked the ship together | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Till she foundered in foul weather, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Are we babes that we should clamour for a vengeance on the sea?” | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Then said the souls of the slaves that men threw overboard: | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| “Kennelled in the picaroon a weary band were we; | 13 | /˘······/˘··· |
| But Thy arm was strong to save, | 7 | ······· |
| And it touched us on the wave, | 8 | ···˘···· |
| And we drowsed the long tides idle till Thy Trumpets tore the sea.” | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Then cried the soul of the stout Apostle Paul to God: | 13 | ·······˘/˘··· |
| “Once we frapped a ship, and she laboured woundily. | 12 | ·······/˘/˘˘ |
| There were fourteen score of these, | 7 | ···/··· |
| And they blessed Thee on their knees, | 8 | ···˘···· |
| When they learned Thy Grace and Glory under Malta by the sea!” | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners, | 12 | ······/˘/˘/˘ |
| Plucking at their harps, and they plucked unhandily: | 12 | /˘·········· |
| “Our thumbs are rough and tarred, | 8 | /˘·····˘ |
| And the tune is something hard -- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| May we lift a Deep-sea Chantey such as seamen use at sea?” | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Then said the souls of the gentlemen-adventurers -- | 11 | ······/˘˘/˘ |
| Fettered wrist to bar all for red iniquity: | 11 | /˘······˘/˘ |
| “Ho, we revel in our chains | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| O'er the sorrow that was Spain's; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Heave or sink it, leave or drink it, we were masters of the sea!” | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| Up spake the soul of a gray Gothavn 'speckshioner -- | 12 | ············ |
| (He that led the flinching in the fleets of fair Dundee): | 13 | ····/˘·····˘/ |
| “Oh, the ice-blink white and near, | 7 | ······· |
| And the bowhead breaching clear! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Will Ye whelm them all for wantonness that wallow in the sea?” | 15 | ······/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners, | 12 | ······/˘/˘/˘ |
| Crying: “Under Heaven, here is neither lead nor lee! | 12 | /˘··/··/˘··· |
| Must we sing for evermore | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On the windless, glassy floor? | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Take back your golden fiddles and we'll beat to open sea!” | 14 | ···/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Then stooped the Lord, and He called the good sea up to Him, | 13 | ············· |
| And 'stablished his borders unto all eternity, | 12 | ····/˘···˘/˘ |
| That such as have no pleasure | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For to praise the Lord by measure, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| They may enter into galleons and serve Him on the sea. | 14 | ··/˘··/˘······ |
| Sun, wind, and cloud shall fail not from the face of it, | 12 | ············ |
| Stinging, ringing spindrift, nor the fulmar flying free; | 13 | /˘/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And the ships shall go abroad | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To the Glory of the Lord | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who heard the silly sailor-folk and gave them back their sea! | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
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