A Counting-out Song Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEEEE EEFFGGHHEEEEE EEIIJJKLEEEEE MMNOFFPPEEEEE QQRREESSEEEEE TTUUEEVEEEEEEE

What is the song the children singA
When doorway lilacs bloom in SpringA
And the Schools are loosed and the games are playedB
That were deadly earnest when Earth was madeB
Hear them chattering shrill and hardC
After dinner time out in the yardC
As the sides are chosen and all submitD
To the chance of the lot that shall make them quot It quotD
Singing quot Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Catch a nigger by the toeE
If he hollers let him goE
Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
You are It quotE
-
Eenee Meenee Mainee and MoE
Were the First Big Four of the Long AgoE
When the Pole of the Earth sloped thirty degreesF
And Central Europe began to freezeF
And they needed Ambassadors staunch and starkG
To steady the Tribes in the gathering darkG
But the frost was fierce and flesh was frailH
So they launched a Magic that could not failH
Singing quot Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Hear the wolves across the snowE
Some one has to kill 'em soE
Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Make you It quotE
-
Slow ly the Glacial Epoch passedE
Central Europe thawed out at lastE
And under the slush of the melting snowsI
The first dim shapes of the Nations roseI
Rome Britannia Belgium GaulJ
Flood and avalanche fathered them allJ
And the First Big Four as they watched the messK
Pitied Man in his helplessnessL
Singing quot Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Trouble starts When Nations growE
Some one has to stop it soE
Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Make you It quotE
-
Thus it happened but none can tellM
What was the Power behind the spellM
Fear or Duty or Pride or FaithN
That sent men shuddering out to deathO
To cold and watching and worse than theseF
Work more work when they looked for easeF
To the days discomfort the nights despairP
In the hope of a prize that they never could shareP
Singing quot Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Man is born to Toil and WoeE
One will cure another soE
Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Make you It quotE
-
Once and again as the Ice went NorthQ
The grass crept up to the Firth of ForthQ
Once and again as the Ice came SouthR
The glaciers ground over LossiemouthR
But grass or glacier cold or hotE
The men went out who would rather notE
And fought with the Tiger the Pig and the ApeS
To hammer the world into decent shapeS
Singing quot Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
What's the use of doing soE
Ask the Gods for we don't knowE
But Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Make us It quotE
-
Nothing is left of that terrible runeT
But a tag of gibberish tacked to a tuneT
That ends the waiting and settles the claimsU
Of children arguing over their gamesU
For never yet has a boy been foundE
To shirk his turn when the turn came roundE
Nor even a girl has been known to sayV
quot If you laugh at me I shan't play quotE
For quot Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Don't you let the grown ups knowE
You may hate it ever soE
But if you're chose you're bound to goE
When Eenee Meenee Mainee MoE
Make you It quotE

Rudyard Kipling



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about A Counting-out Song poem by Rudyard Kipling


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 4 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets