Analysis of Azrael's Count

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



Lo! The Wild Cow of the Desert, her yeanling estrayed from her --
Lost in the wind-plaited sand-dunes -- athirst in the maze of them.
Hot-foot she  follows those  foot-prints -- the  thrice-tangled ways of them.
Her soul is shut save to one thing -- the love-quest consuming her
Fearless she lows past the camp, our fires affright her not.
Ranges she close to the to the tethered  ones -- the  mares by  the lances held.
Noses she softly apart the veil in the women's tent.
Next -- withdrawn under moonlight, a shadow afar off --
Fades. Ere men cry, "Hold her fast! darkness recovers her.
She the all-crazed and forlorn, when the dogs threaten her,
Only a side-tossed horn, as though a fly troubled her,
Shows she hath heard, till a lance in the heart of her quivereth.
-- Lo, from that carcass aheap -- where speeds the soul of it?
Where is the tryst it must keep? Who is her pandar? Death!

Men I dismiss to the Mercy greet me not willingly;
Crying, "When seekest Thou me first?  Are not my kin unslain?
Shrinking aside from the Sword-edge, blinking the glare of it,
Shrinking the chin in the neck-bone. How shall that profit them?
Yet, among women a thousand, few meet me otherwise.

Yet, among women a thousand, one comes to me mistress-wise.
Arms open, breasts open, mouth open -- hot is her need on her.
Crying, "Ho, Servant, aquit me, the bound by Love's promises!
Haste Thou! He Waits! I would go! Handle me lustily!
Lo! her eyes stare past my wings, as things unbeheld by her.
Lo! her lips summoning part. I am not whom she calls!

Lo! My sword sinks and returns. At no time she heedeth it,
More than the dust of a journey, her garments brushed clear of it.
Lo! Ere the blood-gush has ceased, forward her soul rushes.
She is away to her tryst. Who is her pandar? Death!


Scheme ABBAXXXXAAACDC EXDBF FAGEAX DDGC
Poetic Form
Metre 1011101001110 10011011100111 111101110110111 011111110110100 10111011010101 10111010101011011 10110010100101 10110101011 1111101100100 1011001101100 1001111101100 1111101001101 111101110111 110111111011 11011010111100 101111111111 10011011100111 10010011111101 1011001011110 101100101111101 110110110110110 10110110111100 11111111011 101111111110 1011001111111 1111001111111 110110100101111 1101111100110 110110111011
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,758
Words 329
Sentences 40
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 14, 5, 6, 4
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 46
Words per line (avg) 12
Letters per stanza (avg) 335
Words per stanza (avg) 84
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

1:39 min read
118

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his tales and poems of British soldiers in India and his tales for children. more…

All Rudyard Kipling poems | Rudyard Kipling Books

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