Analysis of Mesopotamia
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young,
The eager and whole-hearted whom we gave:
But the men who left them thriftily to die in their own dung,
Shall they come with years and honour to the grave?
They shall not return to us; the strong men coldly slain
In sight of help denied from day to day:
But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain,
Are they too strong and wise to put away?
Our dead shall not return to us while Day and Night divide--
Never while the bars of sunset hold.
But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died,
Shall they thrust for high employments as of old?
Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour:
When the storm is ended shall we find
How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power
By the favour and contrivance of their kind?
Even while they soothe us, while they promise large amends,
Even while they make a show of fear,
Do they call upon their debtors, and take counsel with their
friends,
To conform and re-establish each career?
Their lives cannot repay us--their death could not undo--
The shame that they have laid upon our race.
But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew,
Shell we leave it unabated in its place?
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJXIJ KLKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111011101001 0100110111 1011111110111 1111101101 1110111011101 0111011111 101111100011011 1111011101 101110111110101 10101111 101010111111 11111010111 11101001101110 101110111 110111011101110 1010010111 1011111110101 101110111 11101110011011 1 10101010101 1110011111101 01111101101 1011100010011 1111010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,210 |
Words | 230 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 161 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 185 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Mesopotamia" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33281/mesopotamia>.
Discuss this Rudyard Kipling poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In