Analysis of The Bee-Boy's Song

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



Bees! Bees! Hark to your bees!
"Hide from your neigbours as much as you please,
But all that has happened, to us you must tell,
Or else we will give you no honey to sell!"

A maiden in her glory,
Upon her wedding - day,
Must tell her Bees the story,
Or else they'll fly away.
Fly away -- die away --
Dwindle down and leave you!
But if you don't deceive your Bees,
Your Bees will not deceive you.

Marriage, birth or buryin',
News across the seas,
All you're sad or merry in,
You must tell the Bees.
Tell 'em coming in an' out,
Where the Fanners fan,
'Cause the Bees are just about
As curious as a man!

Don't you wait where the trees are,
When the lightnings play,
Nor don't you hate where Bees are,
Or else they'll pine away.
Pine away -- dwine away --
Anything to leave you!
But if you never grieve your Bees,
Your Bees'll never grieve you.


Scheme AABB CDCDDEAE FAFAGFGF HDHDDEAE
Poetic Form
Metre 111111 111111111 11111011111 11111111011 0100010 010101 1101010 111101 101101 101011 11110111 1111011 10111 10101 1111100 11101 1110011 1011 1011101 1100101 1111011 10101 1111111 111101 101101 10111 11110111 111011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 820
Words 168
Sentences 13
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 156
Words per stanza (avg) 41
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

52 sec read
262

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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