Analysis of Soldier, Soldier
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Why don't you march with my true love?"
"We're fresh from off the ship an' 'e's maybe give the slip,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
New love! True love!
Best go look for a new love,
The dead they cannot rise, an' you'd better dry your eyes,
An' you'd best go look for a new love.
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
What did you see o' my true love?"
"I seed 'im serve the Queen in a suit o' rifle-green,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Did ye see no more o' my true love?"
"I seed 'im runnin' by when the shots begun to fly --
But you'd best go look for a new love."
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Did aught take 'arm to my true love?"
"I couldn't see the fight, for the smoke it lay so white --
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
I'll up an' tend to my true love!"
"'E's lying on the dead with a bullet through 'is 'ead,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
I'll down an' die with my true love!"
"The pit we dug'll 'ide 'im an' the twenty men beside 'im --
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
Do you bring no sign from my true love?"
"I bring a lock of 'air that 'e allus used to wear,
An' you'd best go look for a new love."
"Soldier, soldier come from the wars,
O then I know it's true I've lost my true love!"
"An' I tell you truth again -- when you've lost the feel o' pain
You'd best take me for your true love."
True love! New love!
Best take 'im for a new love,
The dead they cannot rise, an' you'd better dry your eyes,
An' you'd best take 'im for your true love.
Scheme | AbxBbbCB AbxB Abxb AbdB AbdB AbxB AbxB AbxbbbCb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101101 11111111 1111011110101 111111011 1111 1111011 0111011110111 111111011 10101101 11111111 1111010011101 111111011 10101101 111111111 111111010111 111111011 10101101 11111111 1101011011111 111111011 10101101 11111111 1101011010111 111111011 10101101 11111111 01111110101011 111111011 10101101 111111111 110111111111 111111011 10101101 11111111111 11111011110111 11111111 1111 1111011 0111011110111 111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,711 |
Words | 366 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 151 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:52 min read
- 471 Views
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"Soldier, Soldier" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33342/soldier%2C-soldier>.
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