Analysis of The Recall

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



I am the land of their fathers,
In me the virtue stays.
I will bring back my children,
After certain days.

Under their feet in the grasses
My clinging magic runs.
They shall return as strangers.
They shall remain as sons.

Over their heads in the branches
Of their new-bought, ancient trees,
I weave an incantation
And draw them to my knees.

Scent of smoke in the evening,
Smell of rain in the night--
The hours, the days and the seasons,
Order their souls aright,

Till I make plain the meaning
Of all my thousand years--
Till I fill their hearts with knowledge,
While I fill their eyes with tears.


Scheme ABCB DEAE DFCF GHEH GXXX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (80%)
Etheree  (25%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11011110 010101 1111110 10101 10110010 110101 1101110 110111 10110010 1111101 1110110 011111 1110010 111001 010010010 10111 1111010 111101 11111110 1111111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 586
Words 112
Sentences 8
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 93
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 13, 2023

33 sec read
144

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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