Analysis of "Birds Of Prey" March
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
March! The mud is cakin' good about our trousies.
Front!, eyes front, an' watch the Colour-casin's drip.
Front! The faces of the women in the 'ouses
Ain't the kind o' things to take aboard the ship.
Cheer! An' we'll never march to victory.
Cheer! An' we'll never live to 'ear the cannon roar!
The Large Birds o' Prey
They will carry us away,
An' you'll never see your soldiers any more!
Wheel! Oh, keep your touch; we're goin' round a corner.
Time!, mark time, an' let the men be'ind us close.
Lord! the transport's full, an' 'alf our lot not on 'er,
Cheer, O cheer! We're going off where no one knows.
March! The Devil's none so black as 'e is painted!
Cheer! We'll 'ave some fun before we're put away.
'Alt, an' 'and 'er out, a woman's gone and fainted!
Cheer! Get on!, Gawd 'elp the married men to-day!
Hoi! Come up, you 'ungry beggars, to yer sorrow.
('Ear them say they want their tea, an' want it quick!)
You won't have no mind for slingers, not to-morrow,
No; you'll put the 'tween-decks stove out, bein' sick!
'Alt! The married kit 'as all to go before us!
'Course it's blocked the bloomin' gangway up again!
Cheer, O cheer the 'Orse Guards watchin' tender o'er us,
Keepin' us since eight this mornin' in the rain!
Stuck in 'eavy marchin'-order, sopped and wringin',
Sick, before our time to watch 'er 'eave an' fall,
'Ere's your 'appy 'ome at last, an' stop your singin'.
'Alt! Fall in along the troop-deck! Silence all!
Cheer! For we'll never live to see no bloomin' victory!
Cheer! An' we'll never live to 'ear the cannon roar! (One cheer more!)
The jackal an' the kite
'Ave an 'ealthy appetite,
An' you'll never see your soldiers any more! ('Ip! Urroar!)
The eagle an' the crow
They are waitin' ever so,
An' you'll never see your soldiers any more! ('Ip! Urroar!)
Yes, the Large Birds o' Prey
They will carry us away,
An' you'll never see your soldiers any more!
Scheme | abab cdeED fafa xexe ghgh aiax ijij cdkkCgaCeED |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111101101 111110111 10101010001 10111110101 1111011100 111101110101 01111 1110101 11101110101 11111111010 1111101111 101111101110 11111011111 101011111110 11111011101 111010101010 11111010111 11111101110 11111111111 11111111110 1110111111 101011111011 111011101 111011110101 111111001 101110101 101101110111 1111111111 11001011101 1111011111100 111101110101111 010101 11110 1110111010111 010101 111101 1110111010111 101111 1110101 11101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,863 |
Words | 352 |
Sentences | 50 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 11 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 170 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 21, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 70 Views
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""Birds Of Prey" March" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56580/%22birds-of-prey%22-march>.
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