The Widow's Party
“Where have you been this while away,Johnnie, Johnnie?”'Long with the rest on a picnic lay,Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!They called us out of the barrack-yardTo Gawd knows where from Gosport Hard,And you can't refuse when you get the card,And the Widow gives the party.(Bugle: Ta--rara--ra-ra-rara!)
“What did you get to eat and drink,Johnnie, Johnnie?”Standing water as thick as ink,Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!A bit o' beef that were three year stored,A bit o' mutton as tough as a board,And a fowl we killed with a sergeant's sword,When the Widow give the party.
“What did you do for knives and forks,Johnnie, Johnnie?”We carries 'em with us wherever we walks,Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!And some was sliced and some was halved,And some was crimped and some was carved,And some was gutted and some was starved,When the Widow give the party.
“What ha' you done with half your mess,Johnnie, Johnnie?”They couldn't do more and they wouldn't do less,Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!They ate their whack and they drank their fill,And I think the rations has made them ill,For half my comp'ny's lying stillWhere the Widow give the party.
“How did you get away -- away,Johnnie, Johnnie?”On the broad o' my back at the end o' the day,Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!I comed away like a bleedin' toff,For I got four niggers to carry me off,As I lay in the bight of a canvas trough,When the Widow give the party.
“What was the end of all the show,Johnnie, Johnnie?”Ask my Colonel, for I don't know,Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!We broke a King and we built a road --A court-house stands where the reg'ment goed.And the river's clean where the raw blood flowedWhen the Widow give the party.(Bugle: Ta--rara--ra-ra-rara!)
Words in this poem
- barrack n.
- A building for soldiers, especially when in garrison. Commonly in the pl., originally meaning temporary huts, but now usually applied to a permanent structure or set of buildings. [F. baraque, fr. It. baracca (cf. Sp. barraca), from LL. barra bar. See Bar, n.]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- halved a.
- Appearing as if one side, or one half, were cut away; dimidiate.
- whack v. t.
- To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [Cf. Thwack.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- toff n.
- A fop; a beau; a swell. Kipling.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Widow's Party 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 Widow's Party, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/the-widow-s-party.html, id L16755.
Form and metre
The Widow's Party is 50 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 A-A-BBB-- awayA · johnnie · layA · aha · yardB · hardB · cardB · party · rara
- 2 A-A-BBB- drinkA · johnnie · inkA · aha · storedB · boardB · swordB · party
- 3 -----AA- forks · johnnie · walks · aha · halved · carvedA · starvedA · party
- 4 A-A-BBB- messA · johnnie · lessA · aha · fillB · illB · stillB · party
- 5 A-A-BBB- awayA · johnnie · dayA · aha · toffB · offB · troughB · party
- 6 A-A-B-B-- showA · johnnie · knowA · aha · roadB · goed · flowedB · party · rara
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “Where have you been this while away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Johnnie, Johnnie?” | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| 'Long with the rest on a picnic lay, | 9 | ······/·· |
| Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha! | 7 | /˘·/˘·/ |
| They called us out of the barrack-yard | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To Gawd knows where from Gosport Hard, | 8 | ········ |
| And you can't refuse when you get the card, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| And the Widow gives the party. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| (Bugle: Ta--rara--ra-ra-rara!) | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| “What did you get to eat and drink, | 8 | ········ |
| Johnnie, Johnnie?” | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Standing water as thick as ink, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha! | 7 | /˘·/˘·/ |
| A bit o' beef that were three year stored, | 9 | ········· |
| A bit o' mutton as tough as a board, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And a fowl we killed with a sergeant's sword, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When the Widow give the party. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| “What did you do for knives and forks, | 8 | ········ |
| Johnnie, Johnnie?” | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| We carries 'em with us wherever we walks, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha! | 7 | /˘·/˘·/ |
| And some was sliced and some was halved, | 8 | ········ |
| And some was crimped and some was carved, | 8 | ········ |
| And some was gutted and some was starved, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| When the Widow give the party. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| “What ha' you done with half your mess, | 8 | ········ |
| Johnnie, Johnnie?” | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| They couldn't do more and they wouldn't do less, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha! | 7 | /˘·/˘·/ |
| They ate their whack and they drank their fill, | 9 | ········· |
| And I think the rations has made them ill, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| For half my comp'ny's lying still | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where the Widow give the party. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| “How did you get away -- away, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Johnnie, Johnnie?” | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| On the broad o' my back at the end o' the day, | 12 | ············ |
| Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha! | 7 | /˘·/˘·/ |
| I comed away like a bleedin' toff, | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| For I got four niggers to carry me off, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| As I lay in the bight of a canvas trough, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| When the Widow give the party. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| “What was the end of all the show, | 8 | ········ |
| Johnnie, Johnnie?” | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Ask my Colonel, for I don't know, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha! | 7 | /˘·/˘·/ |
| We broke a King and we built a road -- | 9 | ········· |
| A court-house stands where the reg'ment goed. | 9 | ········· |
| And the river's clean where the raw blood flowed | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| When the Widow give the party. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| (Bugle: Ta--rara--ra-ra-rara!) | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
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.