Analysis of The Return
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
Peace is declared, and I return
To 'Ackneystadt, but not the same;
Things 'ave transpired which made me learn
The size and meanin' of the game.
I did no more than others did,
I don't know where the change began;
I started as a average kid,
I finished as a thinkin' man.
If England was what England seems
An' not the England of our dreams,
But only putty, brass, an' paint,
'Ow quick we'd drop 'er! But she ain't!
Before my gappin' mouth could speak
I 'eard it in my comrade's tone;
I saw it on my neighbour's cheek
Before I felt it flush my own.
An' last it come to me--not pride,
Nor yet conceit, but on the 'ole
(If such a term may be applied),
The makin's of a bloomin' soul.
Rivers at night that cluck an' jeer,
Plains which the moonshine turns to sea,
Mountains that never let you near,
An' stars to all eternity;
An' the quick-breathin' dark that fills
The 'ollows of the wilderness,
When the wind worries through the 'ills--
These may 'ave taught me more or less.
Towns without people, ten times took,
An' ten times left an' burned at last;
An' starvin' dogs that come to look
For owners when a column passed;
An' quiet, 'omesick talks between
Men, met by night, you never knew
Until--'is face--by shellfire seen--
Once--an' struck off. They taught me, too.
The day's lay-out--the mornin' sun
Beneath your 'at-brim as you sight;
The dinner-'ush from noon till one,
An' the full roar that lasts till night;
An' the pore dead that look so old
An' was so young an hour ago,
An' legs tied down before they're cold--
These are the things which make you know.
Also Time runnin' into years--
A thousand Places left be'ind--
An' Men from both two 'emispheres
Discussin' things of every kind;
So much more near than I 'ad known,
So much more great than I 'ad guessed--
An' me, like all the rest, alone--
But reachin' out to all the rest!
So 'ath it come to me--not pride,
Nor yet conceit, but on the 'ole
(If such a term may be applied),
The makin's of a bloomin' soul.
But now, discharged, I fall away
To do with little things again....
Gawd, 'oo knows all I cannot say,
Look after me in Thamesfontein!
If England was what England seems
An' not the England of our dreams,
But only putty, brass, an' paint,
'Ow quick we'd chuck 'er! But she ain't!
Scheme | ababcdcd EEFf ghghiJIJ klklmxmx nonopqpq rsrstutu xcexhvhv iJIJwxwa EEFf |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 111101 110101111 0101101 11111101 11110101 110101001 11010101 11011101 110101101 11010111 11110111 0111111 1110111 1111111 01111111 11111111 11011101 11011101 011011 10111111 1101111 10110111 11110100 1011111 0110100 10110101 11111111 10110111 11111111 1111111 11010101 1101101 11111101 0111111 11111111 0111011 01111111 01011111 10111111 10111111 111111001 11110111 11011111 1011011 0101011 111111 1111001 11111111 11111111 11110101 1111101 11111111 11011101 11011101 011011 11011101 11110101 11111101 110101 11011101 110101101 11010111 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,190 |
Words | 420 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 185 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 2:10 min read
- 202 Views
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"The Return" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33542/the-return>.
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