The Song of the Sons
One from the ends of the earth -- gifts at an open door --Treason has much, but we, Mother, thy sons have more!From the whine of a dying man, from the snarl of a wolf-pack freed,Turn, and the world is thine. Mother, be proud of thy seed!Count, are we feeble or few? Hear, is our speech so rude?Look, are we poor in the land? Judge, are we men of The Blood?
Those that have stayed at thy knees, Mother, go call them in --We that were bred overseas wait and would speak with our kin.Not in the dark do we fight -- haggle and flout and gibe;Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe.Gifts have we only to-day -- Love without promise or fee --Hear, for thy children speak, from the uttermost parts of the sea!
Words in this poem
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- overseas adv.
- Over the sea; abroad. Milton.
- haggle v. t.
- To cut roughly or hack; to cut into small pieces; to notch or cut in an unskillful manner; to make rough or mangle by cutting; as, a boy haggles a stick of wood. [Freq. of Scot. hag, E. hack. See Hack to cut.]
- loaning n.
- An open space between cultivated fields through which cattle are driven, and where the cows are sometimes milked; also, a lane. [From Scotch loan, E. lawn.]
- bribe n.
- A gift begged; a present. [F. bribe a lump of bread, scraps, leavings of meals (that are generally given to a beggar), LL. briba scrap of bread; cf. OF. briber, brifer, to eat gluttonousl]
- uttermost a.
- Extreme; utmost; being; in the farthest, greatest, or highest degree; as, the uttermost extent or end. [From Utter, a.; cf. Utmost, and Outermost.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of the Sons 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 Song of the Sons, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-song-of-the-sons.html, id L16791.
Form and metre
The Song of the Sons is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is dactylic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.7 syllables.
See other poems in dactylic pentameter.
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 AABB-- doorA · moreA · freedB · seedB · rude · blood
- 2 AABBCC inA · kinA · gibeB · bribeB · feeC · seaC
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 dactylic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One from the ends of the earth -- gifts at an open door -- | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| Treason has much, but we, Mother, thy sons have more! | 12 | /˘····/˘···· |
| From the whine of a dying man, from the snarl of a wolf-pack freed, | 16 | ·····/˘········· |
| Turn, and the world is thine. Mother, be proud of thy seed! | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| Count, are we feeble or few? Hear, is our speech so rude? | 13 | ···/˘····/··· |
| Look, are we poor in the land? Judge, are we men of The Blood? | 14 | ·············· |
| Those that have stayed at thy knees, Mother, go call them in -- | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| We that were bred overseas wait and would speak with our kin. | 14 | ····/˘/·····/· |
| Not in the dark do we fight -- haggle and flout and gibe; | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe. | 14 | /˘/····/˘/···· |
| Gifts have we only to-day -- Love without promise or fee -- | 14 | ···/˘·····/˘·· |
| Hear, for thy children speak, from the uttermost parts of the sea! | 15 | ···/˘···/˘˘···· |
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.