Analysis of Brown Bess
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
The Army Musket--1700-1815
In the days of lace-ruffles, perukes and brocade
Brown Bess was a partner whom none could despise--
An out-spoken, flinty-lipped, brazen-faced jade,
With a habit of looking men straight in the eyes--
At Blenheim and Ramillies fops would confess
They were pierced to the heart by the charms of Brown Bess.
Though her sight was not long and her weight was not small,
Yet her actions were winning, her language was clear;
And everyone bowed as she opened the ball
On the arm of some high-gaitered, grim grenadier.
Half Europe admitted the striking success
Of the dances and routs that were given by Brown Bess.
When ruffles were turned into stiff leather stocks,
And people wore pigtails instead of perukes,
Brown Bess never altered her iron-grey locks.
She knew she was valued for more than her looks.
'Oh, powder and patches was always my dress,
And I think am killing enough,' said Brown Bess.
So she followed her red-coats, whatever they did,
From the heights of Quebec to the plains of Assaye,
From Gibraltar to Acre, Cape Town and Madrid,
And nothing about her was changed on the way;
(But most of the Empire which now we possess
Was won through those years by old-fashioned Brown Bess.)
In stubborn retreat or in stately advance,
From the Portugal coast to the cork-woods of Spain,
She had puzzled some excellent Marshals of France
Till none of them wanted to meet her again:
But later, near Brussels, Napoleon--no less--
Arranged for a Waterloo ball with Brown Bess.
She had danced till the dawn of that terrible day--
She danced till the dusk of more terrible night,
And before her linked squares his battalions gave way,
And her long fierce quadrilles put his lancers to flight:
And when his gilt carriage drove off in the press,
'I have danced my last dance for the world!' said Brown Bess.
If you go to Museums--there's one in Whitehall--
Where old weapons are shown with their names writ beneath,
You will find her, upstanding, her back to the wall,
As stiff as a ramrod, the flint in her teeth.
And if ever we English had reason to bless
Any arm save our mothers', that arm is Brown Bess!
Scheme | X ABABCC DEDECC FBFXCC GXGHCC IXIXCC HJHJCC DKDKCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010 00111101001 11101011101 11101011011 101011011001 11011101 101101101111 101111001111 101001001011 0101111001 101111111 11001001001 1010011010111 11001011101 010110111 11101001011 11111011101 1100101111 01111001111 11100111011 10110110111 101011011001 01001011101 111010011101 11111111011 01001101001 101001101111 111011001011 11111011001 110110010011 0110101111 111101111001 11101111001 001011101011 00111111011 01111011001 111111101111 11110101101 111011111101 11101001101 1110101001 011011011011 1011101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 2,097 |
Words | 379 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 209 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 298 Views
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"Brown Bess" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33165/brown-bess>.
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