The Miracles
I sent a message to my dear --A thousand leagues and more to Her --The dumb sea-levels thrilled to hear,And Lost Atlantis bore to Her.
Behind my message hard I came,And nigh had found a grave for me;But that I launched of steel and flameDid war against the wave for me.
Uprose the deep, by gale on gale,To bid me change my mind again --He broke his teeth along my rail,And, roaring, swung behind again.
I stayed the sun at noon to tellMy way across the waste of it;I read the storm before it fellAnd made the better haste of it.
Afar, I hailed the land at night --The towers I built had heard of me --And, ere my rocket reached its height,Had flashed my Love the word of me.
Earth sold her chosen men of strength(They lived and strove and died for me)To drive my road a nation's length,And toss the miles aside for me.
I snatched their toil to serve my needs --Too slow their fleetest flew for me --I tired twenty smoking steeds,And bade them bait a new for me.
I sent the lightnings forth to seeWhere hour by hour She waited me.Among ten million one was She,And surely all men hated me!
Dawn ran to meet me at my goal --Ah, day no tongue shall tell again!And little folk of little soulRose up to buy and sell again!
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- 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,]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Miracles 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 Miracles, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-miracles.html, id L16812.
Form and metre
The Miracles is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 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 ABAB dearA · herB · hearA · herB
- 2 ABAB cameA · meB · flameA · meB
- 3 ABAB galeA · againB · railA · againB
- 4 ABAB tellA · itB · fellA · itB
- 5 ABAB nightA · meB · heightA · meB
- 6 ABAB strengthA · meB · lengthA · meB
- 7 ABAB needsA · meB · steedsA · meB
- 8 AAAA seeA · meA · sheA · meA
- 9 ABAB goalA · againB · soulA · againB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I sent a message to my dear -- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A thousand leagues and more to Her -- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The dumb sea-levels thrilled to hear, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And Lost Atlantis bore to Her. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Behind my message hard I came, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And nigh had found a grave for me; | 8 | ········ |
| But that I launched of steel and flame | 8 | ········ |
| Did war against the wave for me. | 8 | ········ |
| Uprose the deep, by gale on gale, | 8 | ········ |
| To bid me change my mind again -- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He broke his teeth along my rail, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And, roaring, swung behind again. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I stayed the sun at noon to tell | 8 | ········ |
| My way across the waste of it; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| I read the storm before it fell | 8 | ········ |
| And made the better haste of it. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Afar, I hailed the land at night -- | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The towers I built had heard of me -- | 8 | ·/······ |
| And, ere my rocket reached its height, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Had flashed my Love the word of me. | 8 | ········ |
| Earth sold her chosen men of strength | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| (They lived and strove and died for me) | 8 | ········ |
| To drive my road a nation's length, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And toss the miles aside for me. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I snatched their toil to serve my needs -- | 8 | ········ |
| Too slow their fleetest flew for me -- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I tired twenty smoking steeds, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And bade them bait a new for me. | 8 | ········ |
| I sent the lightnings forth to see | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where hour by hour She waited me. | 8 | ·/·/·/˘· |
| Among ten million one was She, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And surely all men hated me! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Dawn ran to meet me at my goal -- | 8 | ········ |
| Ah, day no tongue shall tell again! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And little folk of little soul | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Rose up to buy and sell again! | 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.