THE FIVE NATIONS
|
Copyright, 1903, by
Rudyard Kipling
Published, October, 1903
THE CAXTON PRESS
New York City, U.S.A.
DEDICATION
Before a midnight breaks in storm,
Or herded sea in wrath,
Ye know what wavering gusts inform
The greater tempest's path;
Till the loosed wind
Drive all from mind,
Except Distress, which, so will prophets cry,
O'ercame them, houseless, from the unhinting sky.
Ere rivers league against the land
In piratry of flood,
Ye know what waters slip and stand
Where seldom water stood.
Yet who will note,
Till fields afloat,
And washen carcass and the returning well,
Trumpet what these poor heralds strove to tell?
Ye know who use the Crystal Ball
(To peer by stealth on Doom),
The Shade that, shaping first of all,
Prepares an empty room.
Then doth It pass
Like breath from glass,
But, on the extorted vision bowed intent,
No man considers why It came or went.
Before the years reborn behold
Themselves with stranger eye,
And the sport-making Gods of old,
Like Samson slaying, die,
Many shall hear
The all-pregnant sphere,
Bow to the birth and sweat, but—speech denied—
Sit dumb or—dealt in part—fall weak and wide.
Yet instant to fore-shadowed need
The eternal balance swings;
That winged men the Fates may breed
So soon as Fate hath wings.
These shall possess
Our littleness,
And in the imperial task (as worthy) lay
Up our lives' all to piece one giant day.
CONTENTS
PAGE | |||
| DEDICATION Before a midnight breaks in storm, |
v | ||
| THE SEA AND THE HILLS Who hath desired the Sea?—the sight of salt water unbounded, |
1 | ||
| THE BELL BUOY They christened my brother of old, |
4 | ||
| CRUISERS As our mother the Frigate, bepainted and fine, |
8 | ||
| THE DESTROYERS The strength of twice three thousand horse, |
11 | ||
| WHITE HORSES Where run your colts at pasture? |
15 | ||
| THE SECOND VOYAGE We've sent our little Cupids all ashore, |
20 | ||
| THE DYKES We have no heart for the fishing, we have no hand for the oar, |
23 | ||
| THE SONG OF DIEGO VALDEZ The God of Fair Beginnings, |
28 | ||
| THE BROKEN MEN For things we never mention, |
34 | ||
| THE FEET OF THE YOUNG MEN Now the Four-way Lodge is opened, now the Hunting Winds are loose, |
38 | ||
| THE TRUCE OF THE BEAR Yearly, with tent and rifle, our careless white men go, |
44 | ||
| THE OLD MEN This is our lot if we live so long and labour unto the end, |
49 | ||
| THE EXPLORER "There's no sense in going further—it's the edge of cultivation," |
52 | ||
| THE WAGE-SLAVES Oh glorious are the guarded heights, |
60 |
THE BURIAL When that great Kings return to clay |
63 |
| GENERAL JOUBERT With those that bred, with those that loosed the strife, |
65 | ||
| THE PALACE When I was a King and a Mason—a Master proven and skilled, |
66 | ||
| SUSSEX God gave all men all earth to love, |
69 | ||
| SONG OF THE WISE CHILDREN When the darkened Fifties dip to the North, |
74 | ||
| BUDDHA AT KAMAKURA Oh ye who tread the Narrow Way, |
76 | ||
| THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN Take up the White Man's burden, |
79 | ||
| PHARAOH AND THE SERGEANT Said England unto Pharaoh, "I must make a man of you, |
82 | ||
| OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS A Nation spoke to a Nation, |
87 | ||
| "ET DONA FERENTES" In extended observation of the ways and works of man, |
90 | ||
| KITCHENER'S SCHOOL Oh Hubshee, carry your shoes in your hand and bow your head on your breast, |
95 | ||
| THE YOUNG QUEEN Her hand was still on her sword-hilt, the spur was still on her heel, |
100 | ||
| RIMMON Duly with knees that feign to quake, |
104 | ||
| THE OLD ISSUE "Here is nothing new nor aught unproven," say the Trumpets, |
107 | ||
| BRIDGE-GUARD IN THE KARROO Sudden the desert changes, |
113 | ||
| THE LESSON Let us admit it fairly, as a business people should, |
117 | ||
| THE FILES Files, |
121 | ||
| THE REFORMERS Not in the camp his victory lies, |
126 | ||
| DIRGE OF DEAD SISTERS Who recalls the twilight and the ranged tents in order, |
129 | ||
| THE ISLANDERS No doubt but ye are the People—your throne is above the King's, |
133 | ||
| THE PEACE OF DIVES The Word came down to Dives in Torment where he lay, |
141 | ||
| SOUTH AFRICA Lived a woman wonderful, |
149 | ||
| THE SETTLER Here, where my fresh-turned furrows run, |
153 | ||
Service Songs | |||
| CHANT-PAGAN Me that 'ave been what I ve been, |
159 | ||
| M. I. I wish my mother could see me now, with a fence-post under my arm, |
163 | ||
| COLUMNS Out o' the wilderness, dusty an' dry, |
170 | ||
| THE PARTING OF THE COLUMNS We've rode and fought and ate and drunk as rations come to hand, |
175 | ||
| TWO KOPJES Only two African kopjes, |
179 | ||
| THE INSTRUCTOR At times when under cover I 'ave said, |
183 | ||
| BOOTS We're foot—slog—slog—slog—sloggin' over Africa, |
185 | ||
| THE MARRIED MAN The bachelor 'e fights for one, |
188 | ||
| LICHTENBERG Smells are surer than sounds or sights, |
191 | ||
| STELLENBOSH The General 'card the firin' on the flank, |
194 | ||
| HALF-BALLAD OF WATERVAL When by the labour of my 'ands, |
197 | ||
| PIET I do not love my Empire's foes, |
199 | ||
| "WILFUL-MISSING" There is a world outside the one you know, |
204 | ||
| UBIQUE There is a word you often see, pronounce it as you may, |
206 | ||
| THE RETURN Peace is declared, an' I return, |
210 | ||
| RECESSIONAL God of our fathers, known of old, |
214 | ||
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1927.
The author died in 1936, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 80 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.