Analysis of The Power of the Dog
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Scheme | AABBCC DDEECC FFGGCC HHXXCC AAIIJJKKCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111001001001 1101011101 01111011001 11110111 1001011101 1101110111 101011011 10101101 01100101 101001101101 00111101 111110111 1011111001 1100101111 0010100101 110101101 111111101 1101110111 10101111101 11101101111 101011011001 110101111 110101111 0111110111 11001001001 1111100101 10111101101 110101111 1111101101 101011101111 1111100111 0111111101 1101001111 11110110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,377 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 10 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 793 Views
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