I Keep Six Honest...

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small-
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

37 sec read
547

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCD XACAXEAE XFCF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 611
Words 124
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 4

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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