The Overland-Mail
In the name of the Empress of India, make way,O Lords of the Jungle wherever you roam,The woods are astir at the close of the day--We exiles are waiting for letters from Home--Let the robber retreat; let the tiger turn tail,In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail!
With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in,He turns to the foot-path that leads up the hill--The bags on his back, and a cloth round his chin,And, tucked in his belt, the Post-Office bill;--“Despatched on this date, as received by the rail,Per runner, two bags of the Overland-Mail.”
Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.Does the tempest cry “Halt”? What are tempests to him?The service admits not a “but” or an “if”;While the breath’s in his mouth, he must bear without fail,In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail.
From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir,From level to upland, from upland to crest,From rice-field to rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur,Fly the soft-sandalled feet, strains the brawny brown chest.From rail to ravine--to the peak from the vale--Up, up through the night goes the Overland-Mail.
There’s a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road--A jingle of bells on the foot-path below--There’s a scuffle above in the monkeys’ abode--The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow--For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail;--In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail.
Words in this poem
- jungle n.
- A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil. [Hind. jangal desert, forest, jungle; Skr. ja desert.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- astir adv.
- Stirring; in a state of activity or motion; out of bed. [Pref. a- + stir.]
- jingle v. i.
- To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
- spate n.
- A river flood; an overflow or inundation. Burns. [Of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. speid.]
- brawny a.
- Having large, strong muscles; muscular; fleshy; strong.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- aglow adv.
- In a glow; glowing; as, cheeks aglow; the landscape all aglow. [Pref. a- + glow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Overland-Mail is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, The Overland-Mail, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-overland-mail.html, id L25234.
Form and metre
The Overland-Mail is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABABCC wayA · roamB · dayA · homeB · tailC · mailC
- 2 ABABCC inA · hillB · chinA · billB · railC · mailC
- 3 ABABCC swimA · cliffB · himA · ifB · failC · mailC
- 4 ABABCC firA · crestB · spurA · chestB · valeC · mailC
- 5 ABABCC roadA · belowB · abodeA · aglowB · hailC · mailC
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the name of the Empress of India, make way, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| O Lords of the Jungle wherever you roam, | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘·· |
| The woods are astir at the close of the day-- | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| We exiles are waiting for letters from Home-- | 11 | ·/··/˘·/˘·· |
| Let the robber retreat; let the tiger turn tail, | 11 | ··/˘˘/··/·· |
| In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail! | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
| With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in, | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| He turns to the foot-path that leads up the hill-- | 11 | ··········· |
| The bags on his back, and a cloth round his chin, | 11 | ··········· |
| And, tucked in his belt, the Post-Office bill;-- | 11 | ··˘·····/˘· |
| “Despatched on this date, as received by the rail, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| Per runner, two bags of the Overland-Mail.” | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff. | 12 | ············ |
| Does the tempest cry “Halt”? What are tempests to him? | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| The service admits not a “but” or an “if”; | 11 | ·/˘˘/······ |
| While the breath’s in his mouth, he must bear without fail, | 12 | ············ |
| In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
| From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir, | 11 | ·/········· |
| From level to upland, from upland to crest, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| From rice-field to rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur, | 11 | ··········· |
| Fly the soft-sandalled feet, strains the brawny brown chest. | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| From rail to ravine--to the peak from the vale-- | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| Up, up through the night goes the Overland-Mail. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| There’s a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road-- | 12 | ·····/······ |
| A jingle of bells on the foot-path below-- | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| There’s a scuffle above in the monkeys’ abode-- | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow-- | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail;-- | 12 | ····˘/·˘/··· |
| In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
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.