Analysis of Song of Diego Valdez
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
The God of Fair Beginnings
Hath prospered here my hand --
The cargoes of my lading,
And the keels of my command.
For out of many ventures
That sailed with hope as high,
My own have made the better trade,
And Admiral am I.
To me my King's much honour,
To me my people's love --
To me the pride of Princes
And power all pride above;
To me the shouting cities,
To me the mob's refrain: --
'Who knows not noble Valdez
'Hath never heard of Spain.'
But I remember comrades --
Old playmates on new seas --
Whenas we traded orpiment
Among the savages --
A thousand leagues to south'ard
And thirty years removed --
They knew nor noble Valdez,
But me they knew and loved.
Then they that found good liquor,
They drank it not alone,
And they that found fair plunder,
They told us every one,
About our chosen islands
Or secret shoals between,
When, weary from far voyage,
We gathered to careen.
There burned our breaming-fagots
All pale along the shore:
There rose our worn pavilions --
A sail above an oar:
As flashed each yeaming anchor
Through mellow seas afire,
So swift our careless captains
Rowed each to his desire.
Where lay our loosened harness?
Where turned our naked feet?
Whose tavern 'mid the palm-trees?
What quenchings of what heat?
Oh, fountain in the desert!
Oh, cistern in the waste!
Oh, bread we ate in secret!
Oh, cup we spilled in haste!
The youth new-taught of longing,
The widow curbed and wan,
The goodwife proud at season,
And the maid aware of man --
All souls unslaked, consuming,
Defrauded in delays,
Desire not more their quittance
Than I those forfeit days!
I dreamed to wait my pleasure
Unchanged my spring would bide:
Wherefore, to wait my pleasure,
I put my spring aside
Till, first in face of Fortune,
And last in mazed disdain,
I made Diego Valdez
High Admiral of Spain.
Then walked no wind 'neath Heaven
Nor surge that did not aid --
I dared extreme occasion,
Nor ever one betrayed.
They wrought a deeper treason --
(Led seas that served my needs!)
They sold Diego Valdez
To bondage of great deeds.
The tempest flung me seaward,
And pinned and bade me hold
The course I might not alter --
And men esteemed me bold!
The calms embayed my quarry,
The fog-wreath sealed his eyes;
The dawn-wind brought my topsails --
And men esteemed me wise!
Yet, 'spite my tyrant triumphs,
Bewildered, dispossessed --
My dream held I beore me
My vision of my rest;
But, crowned by Fleet and People,
And bound by King and Pope --
Stands here Diego Valdez
To rob me of my hope.
No prayer of mine shall move him.
No word of his set free
The Lord of Sixty Pennants
And the Steward of the Sea.
His will can loose ten thousand
To seek their loves again --
But not Diego Valdez,
High Admiral of Spain.
There walks no wind 'neath Heaven
Nor wave that shall restore
The old careening riot
And the clamorous, crowded shore --
The fountain in the desert,
The cistern in the waste,
The bread we ate in secret,
The cup we spilled in haste.
Now call I to my Captains --
For council fly the sign --
Now leap their zealous galleys,
Twelve-oared, across the brine.
To me the straiter prison,
To me the heavier chain --
To me Diego Valdez,
High Admiral of Spain!
Scheme | abcbxded fghgijkj xixhxxkx fxflxmxm afnfffnf xoiopqrq cxlxcsas ftftljkJ leleluku xvfvfwaw xxyxxzkz xfxyxxkJ lfrfpqrq n1 i1 lJkj |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111010 110111 011110 0011101 1111010 111111 11110101 010011 111111 111101 1101110 0101101 1101010 110101 1111001 110111 110101 11111 1110100 010100 0101111 010101 1111001 111101 1111110 111101 0111110 1111001 01101010 110101 1101110 110101 111011 110101 11101010 010111 111110 110101 11101010 1111010 11101010 1110101 1101011 11111 1100010 110001 1111010 111101 0111110 010101 011110 0010111 111010 010001 0101111 111101 1111110 011111 111110 111101 1101110 010101 1101001 110011 1111110 111111 1101010 110101 1101010 111111 1101001 110111 0101110 010111 0111110 010111 011110 011111 011111 010111 1111010 01001 111111 110111 1111010 011101 1101001 111111 1111111 111111 0111010 0010101 1111110 111101 1101001 110011 1111110 111101 0101010 001101 0100010 010001 0111010 011101 1111110 110101 1111010 110101 110110 1101001 1101001 110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 3,045 |
Words | 587 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 112 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 173 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 2:57 min read
- 176 Views
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"Song of Diego Valdez" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33343/song-of-diego-valdez>.
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