To the True Romance
Thy face is far from this our war,Our call and counter-cry,I shall not find Thee quick and kind,Nor know Thee till I die,Enough for me in dreams to seeAnd touch Thy garments' hem:Thy feet have trod so near to GodI may not follow them.
Through wantonness if men professThey weary of Thy parts,E'en let them die at blasphemyAnd perish with their arts;But we that love, but we that proveThine excellence august,While we adore discover moreThee perfect, wise, and just.
Since spoken word Man's Spirit stirredBeyond his belly-need,What is is Thine of fair designIn thought and craft and deed;Each stroke aright of toil and fight,That was and that shall be,And hope too high, wherefore we die,Has birth and worth in Thee.
Who holds by Thee hath Heaven in feeTo gild his dross thereby,And knowledge sure that he endureA child until he die --For to make plain that man's disdainIs but new Beauty's birth --For to possess in lonelinessThe joy of all the earth.
As Thou didst teach all lovers speechAnd Life all mystery,So shalt Thou rule by every schoolTill love and longing die,Who wast or yet the Lights were set,A whisper in the Void,Who shalt be sung through planets youngWhen this is clean destroyed.
Beyond the bounds our staring rounds,Across the pressing dark,The children wise of outer skiesLook hitherward and markA light that shifts, a glare that drifts,Rekindling thus and thus,Not all forlorn, for Thou hast borneStrange tales to them of us.
Time hath no tide but must abideThe servant of Thy will;Tide hath no time, for to Thy rhymeThe ranging stars stand still --Regent of spheres that lock our fears,Our hopes invisible,Oh 'twas certes at Thy decreesWe fashioned Heaven and Hell!
Pure Wisdom hath no certain pathThat lacks thy morning-eyne,And captains bold by Thee controlledMost like to Gods design;Thou art the Voice to kingly boysTo lift them through the fight,And Comfortress of Unsuccess,To give the dead good-night --
A veil to draw 'twixt God His LawAnd Man's infirmity,A shadow kind to dumb and blindThe shambles where we die;A rule to trick th' arithmeticToo base of leaguing odds --The spur of trust, the curb of lust,Thou handmaid of the Gods!
O Charity, all patientlyAbiding wrack and scaith!O Faith, that meets ten thousand cheatsYet drops no jot of faith!Devil and brute Thou dost transmuteTo higher, lordlier show,Who art in sooth that lovely TruthThe careless angels know!
Thy face is far from this our war,Our call and counter-cry,I may not find Thee quick and kind,Nor know Thee till I die.
Yet may I look with heart unshookOn blow brought home or missed --Yet may I hear with equal earThe clarions down the List;Yet set my lance above mischanceAnd ride the barriere --Oh, hit or miss, how little 'tis,My Lady is not there!
Words in this poem 24
- 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,]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- hitherward adv.
- Toward this place; hither. [AS. hiderweard.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- certes adv.
- Certainly; in truth; verily. [F. certes, for à certes, fr. L. certus. See Certain.]
- comfortress n.
- A woman who comforts.
- unsuccess n.
- Want of success; failure; misfortune. Prof. Wilson.
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- handmaid n.
- A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
- patiently adv.
- In a patient manner.
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
- transmute v. t.
- To change from one nature, form, or substance, into another; to transform. [L. transmutare, transmutatum; trans across + mutare to change. See Mutable, and cf. Transmew.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the True Romance 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, To the True Romance, in Verses 1889–1896 (1889–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #323, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-verses/to-the-true-romance.html, id L16825.
Form and metre
To the True Romance is 92 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 37% 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 -A-AAB-B war · cryA · kind · dieA · seeA · hemB · god · themB
- 2 -A-A-B-B profess · partsA · blasphemy · artsA · prove · augustB · more · justB
- 3 -A-A-BBB stirred · needA · design · deedA · fight · beB · dieB · theeB
- 4 AA-A-B-B feeA · therebyA · endure · dieA · disdain · birthB · loneliness · earthB
- 5 -----A-A speech · mystery · school · die · set · voidA · young · destroyedA
- 6 -A-A-B-B rounds · darkA · skies · markA · drifts · thusB · borne · usB
- 7 -A-A-A-A abide · willA · rhyme · stillA · fears · invisibleA · decrees · hellA
- 8 -----A-A path · eyne · controlled · design · boys · fightA · unsuccess · nightA
- 9 -----A-A law · infirmity · blind · die · arithmetic · oddsA · lust · godsA
- 10 -A-A-B-B patiently · scaithA · cheats · faithA · transmute · showB · truth · knowB
- 11 -A-A war · cryA · kind · dieA
- 12 -A-A---- unshook · missedA · ear · listA · mischance · barriere · tis · there
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thy face is far from this our war, | 8 | ······/· |
| Our call and counter-cry, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| I shall not find Thee quick and kind, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor know Thee till I die, | 6 | ······ |
| Enough for me in dreams to see | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And touch Thy garments' hem: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy feet have trod so near to God | 8 | ········ |
| I may not follow them. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Through wantonness if men profess | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| They weary of Thy parts, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| E'en let them die at blasphemy | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And perish with their arts; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But we that love, but we that prove | 8 | ········ |
| Thine excellence august, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| While we adore discover more | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Thee perfect, wise, and just. | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Since spoken word Man's Spirit stirred | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beyond his belly-need, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What is is Thine of fair design | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In thought and craft and deed; | 6 | ······ |
| Each stroke aright of toil and fight, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| That was and that shall be, | 6 | ······ |
| And hope too high, wherefore we die, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Has birth and worth in Thee. | 6 | ······ |
| Who holds by Thee hath Heaven in fee | 8 | ·····/·· |
| To gild his dross thereby, | 6 | ······ |
| And knowledge sure that he endure | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A child until he die -- | 6 | ······ |
| For to make plain that man's disdain | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Is but new Beauty's birth -- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For to possess in loneliness | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| The joy of all the earth. | 6 | ······ |
| As Thou didst teach all lovers speech | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Life all mystery, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| So shalt Thou rule by every school | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till love and longing die, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who wast or yet the Lights were set, | 8 | ········ |
| A whisper in the Void, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who shalt be sung through planets young | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When this is clean destroyed. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Beyond the bounds our staring rounds, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Across the pressing dark, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| The children wise of outer skies | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Look hitherward and mark | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| A light that shifts, a glare that drifts, | 8 | ········ |
| Rekindling thus and thus, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Not all forlorn, for Thou hast borne | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Strange tales to them of us. | 6 | ······ |
| Time hath no tide but must abide | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The servant of Thy will; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Tide hath no time, for to Thy rhyme | 8 | ········ |
| The ranging stars stand still -- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Regent of spheres that lock our fears, | 8 | /˘····/· |
| Our hopes invisible, | 7 | /˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Oh 'twas certes at Thy decrees | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| We fashioned Heaven and Hell! | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Pure Wisdom hath no certain path | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That lacks thy morning-eyne, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And captains bold by Thee controlled | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Most like to Gods design; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thou art the Voice to kingly boys | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To lift them through the fight, | 6 | ······ |
| And Comfortress of Unsuccess, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| To give the dead good-night -- | 6 | ······ |
| A veil to draw 'twixt God His Law | 8 | ········ |
| And Man's infirmity, | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| A shadow kind to dumb and blind | 8 | ·/······ |
| The shambles where we die; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A rule to trick th' arithmetic | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Too base of leaguing odds -- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The spur of trust, the curb of lust, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou handmaid of the Gods! | 6 | ······ |
| O Charity, all patiently | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Abiding wrack and scaith! | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| O Faith, that meets ten thousand cheats | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet drops no jot of faith! | 6 | ······ |
| Devil and brute Thou dost transmute | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| To higher, lordlier show, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who art in sooth that lovely Truth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The careless angels know! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Thy face is far from this our war, | 8 | ······/· |
| Our call and counter-cry, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| I may not find Thee quick and kind, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor know Thee till I die. | 6 | ······ |
| Yet may I look with heart unshook | 8 | ········ |
| On blow brought home or missed -- | 7 | ······˘ |
| Yet may I hear with equal ear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The clarions down the List; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Yet set my lance above mischance | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And ride the barriere -- | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Oh, hit or miss, how little 'tis, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My Lady is not there! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.