The Merchantmen
King Solomon drew merchantmen,Because of his desireFor peacocks, apes, and ivory,From Tarshish unto Tyre:With cedars out of LebanonWhich Hiram rafted down,But we be only sailormenThat use in London Town.
Coastwise -- cross-seas -- round the world and back again --Where the flaw shall head us or the full Trade suits --Plain-sail -- storm-sail -- lay your board and tack again --And that's the way we'll pay Paddy Doyle for his boots!
We bring no store of ingots,Of spice or precious stones,But that we have we gatheredWith sweat and aching bones:In flame beneath the tropics,In frost upon the floe,And jeopardy of every windThat does between them go.
And some we got by purchase,And some we had by trade,And some we found by courtesyOf pike and carronade --At midnight, 'mid-sea meetings,For charity to keep,And light the rolling homeward-boundThat rode a foot too deep.
By sport of bitter weatherWe're walty, strained, and scarredFrom the kentledge on the kelsonTo the slings upon the yard.Six oceans had their will of usTo carry all away --Our galley's in the Baltic,And our boom's in Mossel Bay!
We've floundered off the Texel,Awash with sodden deals,We've slipped from ValparaisoWith the Norther at our heels:We've ratched beyond the CrossetsThat tusk the Southern Pole,And dipped our gunnels underTo the dread Agulhas roll.
Beyond all outer chartingWe sailed where none have sailed,And saw the land-lights burningOn islands none have hailed;Our hair stood up for wonder,But, when the night was done,There danced the deep to windwardBlue-empty 'neath the sun!
Strange consorts rode beside usAnd brought us evil luck;The witch-fire climbed our channels,And flared on vane and truck:Till, through the red tornado,That lashed us nigh to blind,We saw The Dutchman plunging,Full canvas, head to wind!
We've heard the Midnight LeadsmanThat calls the black deep down --Ay, thrice we've heard The Swimmer,The Thing that may not drown.On frozen bunt and gasketThe sleet-cloud drave her hosts,When, manned by more than signed with us,We passed the Isle o' Ghosts!
And north, amid the hummocks,A biscuit-toss below,We met the silent shallopThat frighted whalers know;For, down a cruel ice-lane,That opened as he sped,We saw dead Henry HudsonSteer, North by West, his dead.
So dealt God's waters with usBeneath the roaring skies,So walked His signs and marvelsAll naked to our eyes:But we were heading homewardWith trade to lose or make --Good Lord, they slipped behind usIn the tailing of our wake!
Let go, let go the anchors;Now shamed at heart are weTo bring so poor a cargo homeThat had for gift the sea!Let go the great bow-anchors --Ah, fools were we and blind --The worst we stored with utter toil,The best we left behind!
Coastwise -- cross-seas -- round the world and back again,Whither flaw shall fail us or the Trades drive down:Plain-sail -- storm-sail -- lay your board and tack again --And all to bring a cargo up to London Town!
Words in this poem 24
- solomon n.
- One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
- tyre n.
- Attire. See 2d and 3d Tire.
- coastwise adv.
- By way of, or along, the coast.
- 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,]
- paddy a.
- Low; mean; boorish; vagabond. [Prov. E. paddy worm-eaten.]
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- 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.]
- jeopardy n.
- Exposure to death, loss, or injury; hazard; danger. [OE. jupartie, juperti, jeuparti, OF. jeu parti an even game, a game in which the chances are even; OF. jeu, ju, F. jeu (L. jocus jest) + F. partier to divide, L]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- walty a.
- Liable to roll over; crank; as, a walty ship. [Cf. Walter to roll.]
- kentledge n.
- Pigs of iron used for ballast. [OF. cant edge, corner, D.kant. See Cant edge, angle.]
- awash a.
- Washed by the waves or tide; -- said of a rock or strip of shore, or (Naut.) of an anchor, etc., when flush with the surface of the water, so that the waves break over it. [Pref. a- + wash.]
- norther n.
- A wind from the north; esp., a strong and cold north wind in Texas and the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico.
- dutchman n.
- A native, or one of the people, of Holland. Dutchman's breeches (Bot.), a perennial American herb (Dicentra cucullaria), with peculiar double-spurred flowers. See Illust. of Dicentra.
- leadsman n.
- The man who heaves the lead. Totten.
- bunt n.
- A fungus (Ustilago foetida) which affects the ear of cereals, filling the grains with a fetid dust; -- also called pepperbrand.
- gasket n.
- A line or band used to lash a furled sail securely. Sea gaskets are common lines; harbor gaskets are plaited and decorated lines or bands. Called also casket. [Cf. F. garcette, It. gaschetta, Sp. cajeta caburn, garceta reef point.]
- drave
- , old imp. of Drive.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- heading n.
- The act or state of one who, or that which, heads; formation of a head.
- tailing n.
- The part of a projecting stone or brick inserted in a wall.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Merchantmen 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 Merchantmen, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-merchantmen.html, id L16810.
Form and metre
The Merchantmen is 96 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 32 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 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 ----AA-A merchantmen · desire · ivory · tyre · lebanonA · downA · sailormen · townA
- 2 ABAB againA · suitsB · againA · bootsB
- 3 -A-A-B-B ingots · stonesA · gathered · bonesA · tropics · floeB · wind · goB
- 4 -A-A-B-B purchase · tradeA · courtesy · carronadeA · meetings · keepB · bound · deepB
- 5 -A-A-B-B weather · scarredA · kelson · yardA · us · awayB · baltic · bayB
- 6 -A-A-B-B texel · dealsA · valparaiso · heelsA · crossets · poleB · under · rollB
- 7 -A-A-B-B charting · sailedA · burning · hailedA · wonder · doneB · windward · sunB
- 8 -A-A-B-B us · luckA · channels · truckA · tornado · blindB · plunging · windB
- 9 -A-A-B-B leadsman · downA · swimmer · drownA · gasket · hostsB · us · ghostsB
- 10 -A-ABCBC hummocks · belowA · shallop · knowA · laneB · spedC · hudsonB · deadC
- 11 AB-B-CAC usA · skiesB · marvels · eyesB · homeward · makeC · usA · wakeC
- 12 AB-BAC-C anchorsA · weB · home · seaB · anchorsA · blindC · toil · behindC
- 13 ABAB againA · downB · againA · townB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| King Solomon drew merchantmen, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Because of his desire | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| For peacocks, apes, and ivory, | 8 | ·/···/˘˘ |
| From Tarshish unto Tyre: | 6 | ······ |
| With cedars out of Lebanon | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Which Hiram rafted down, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But we be only sailormen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That use in London Town. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Coastwise -- cross-seas -- round the world and back again -- | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Where the flaw shall head us or the full Trade suits -- | 11 | ··········· |
| Plain-sail -- storm-sail -- lay your board and tack again -- | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| And that's the way we'll pay Paddy Doyle for his boots! | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| We bring no store of ingots, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Of spice or precious stones, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But that we have we gathered | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| With sweat and aching bones: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In flame beneath the tropics, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In frost upon the floe, | 6 | ······ |
| And jeopardy of every wind | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| That does between them go. | 6 | ······ |
| And some we got by purchase, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And some we had by trade, | 6 | ······ |
| And some we found by courtesy | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Of pike and carronade -- | 6 | ······ |
| At midnight, 'mid-sea meetings, | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| For charity to keep, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| And light the rolling homeward-bound | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That rode a foot too deep. | 6 | ······ |
| By sport of bitter weather | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| We're walty, strained, and scarred | 8 | ·/˘·˘··˘ |
| From the kentledge on the kelson | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| To the slings upon the yard. | 7 | ······· |
| Six oceans had their will of us | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To carry all away -- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Our galley's in the Baltic, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| And our boom's in Mossel Bay! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We've floundered off the Texel, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Awash with sodden deals, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| We've slipped from Valparaiso | 8 | ··˘··˘/˘ |
| With the Norther at our heels: | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| We've ratched beyond the Crossets | 8 | ··˘····· |
| That tusk the Southern Pole, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And dipped our gunnels under | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| To the dread Agulhas roll. | 7 | ······· |
| Beyond all outer charting | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| We sailed where none have sailed, | 8 | ··˘····˘ |
| And saw the land-lights burning | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| On islands none have hailed; | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| Our hair stood up for wonder, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| But, when the night was done, | 6 | ······ |
| There danced the deep to windward | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| Blue-empty 'neath the sun! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Strange consorts rode beside us | 7 | ·˘/··/· |
| And brought us evil luck; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The witch-fire climbed our channels, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| And flared on vane and truck: | 7 | ··˘···· |
| Till, through the red tornado, | 7 | ····˘/· |
| That lashed us nigh to blind, | 7 | ··˘···· |
| We saw The Dutchman plunging, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Full canvas, head to wind! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We've heard the Midnight Leadsman | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| That calls the black deep down -- | 6 | ······ |
| Ay, thrice we've heard The Swimmer, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The Thing that may not drown. | 6 | ······ |
| On frozen bunt and gasket | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The sleet-cloud drave her hosts, | 6 | ······ |
| When, manned by more than signed with us, | 8 | ········ |
| We passed the Isle o' Ghosts! | 7 | ··˘···· |
| And north, amid the hummocks, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| A biscuit-toss below, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We met the silent shallop | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That frighted whalers know; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| For, down a cruel ice-lane, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| That opened as he sped, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| We saw dead Henry Hudson | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Steer, North by West, his dead. | 6 | ······ |
| So dealt God's waters with us | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Beneath the roaring skies, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So walked His signs and marvels | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| All naked to our eyes: | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| But we were heading homeward | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| With trade to lose or make -- | 6 | ······ |
| Good Lord, they slipped behind us | 8 | ····˘··· |
| In the tailing of our wake! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Let go, let go the anchors; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Now shamed at heart are we | 7 | ··˘···· |
| To bring so poor a cargo home | 8 | ·····/·· |
| That had for gift the sea! | 6 | ······ |
| Let go the great bow-anchors -- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ah, fools were we and blind -- | 6 | ······ |
| The worst we stored with utter toil, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The best we left behind! | 6 | ······ |
| Coastwise -- cross-seas -- round the world and back again, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Whither flaw shall fail us or the Trades drive down: | 11 | /˘········· |
| Plain-sail -- storm-sail -- lay your board and tack again -- | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| And all to bring a cargo up to London Town! | 12 | ·····/···/˘· |
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