The Instructor
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
(Non-commissioned Officers of the Line)
At times when under cover I 'ave said,
To keep my spirits up an' raise a laugh,
'Earin 'im pass so busy over-'ead--
Old Nickel-Neck, 'oo is n't on the Staff --
"There's one above is greater than us all"
Before 'im I 'ave seen my Colonel fall,
An 'watched 'im write my Captain's epitaph,
So that a long way off it could be read--
He 'as the knack o' makin' men feel small--
Old Whistle Tip, 'oo is n't on the Staff.
There is no sense in fleein'' (I 'ave fled),
Better go on an' do the belly-crawl,
An' 'ope' 'e '1l it some other man instead
Of you 'e seems to 'unt so speshual--
Fitzy van Spitz, 'oo is n't on the Staff.
An' thus in mem'ry's cinematograph,
Now that the show is over, I recall
The peevish voice an' 'oary mushroom 'ead
Of 'im we owned was greater than us all,
'Oo give instruction to the quick an' the dead--
The Shudderin'' Beggar--not upon the Staff!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 68 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | X ABABC CBACB ACACB BCACAB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 894 |
Words | 176 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 5, 5, 5, 6 |
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