Analysis of Mandalay
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat -- jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o'mud --
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd --
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "~Kulla-lo-lo!~"
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin' my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the ~hathis~ pilin' teak.
Elephints a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
But that's all shove be'ind me -- long ago an' fur away,
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay . . .
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted Henglish drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and --
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay . . .
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be --
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
Scheme | aabbbBbBBB ccdddddB eefffffB bbghhggB iidddddB ddaaBBbBBB |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010110101 10101010111111 101100110010111 11111010111110 111110 1010101 1111101101110 101110 101101 101111101010101 010111110111 1111111101111 111010110111 101101011111 110111 1110111 101111101110111 101110 10111011101111 1101011111011 101011101110111 11101010111 1011 001011 10101111110111 101110 1111111011101 1111101101110 11110101011101 11101011110111 1111101 1110101 1011011101101 101110 1111110111011 10101101010011 11111011010101 11101110111101 1011100 111101 101010100010101 101110 11111101011101 1110110101011101 10101111111111 10110101010101 101110 1010101 11010101111110 101110 101101 101111101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,647 |
Words | 466 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 8, 8, 8, 8, 10 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 318 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 79 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 2:25 min read
- 16,205 Views
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"Mandalay" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33273/mandalay>.
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