Sappers Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAAB CCD EED FFD GGD HID JJD EED EED KKD LLD MMD NND OOD MMD MMD MMD MMD PBPQQB| When the Waters were dried an' the Earth did appear | A |
| quot It's all one quot says the Sapper | B |
| The Lord He created the Engineer | A |
| Her Majesty's Royal Engineer | A |
| With the rank and pay of a Sapper | B |
| - | |
| When the Flood come along for an extra monsoon | C |
| 'Twas Noah constructed the first pontoon | C |
| To the plans of Her Majesty's etc | D |
| - | |
| But after fatigue in the wet an' the sun | E |
| Old Noah got drunk which he wouldn't ha' done | E |
| If he'd trained with etc | D |
| - | |
| When the Tower o' Babel had mixed up men's bat | F |
| Some clever civilian was managing that | F |
| An' none of etc | D |
| - | |
| When the Jews had a fight at the foot of a hill | G |
| Young Joshua ordered the sun to stand still | G |
| For he was a Captain of Engineers etc | D |
| - | |
| When the Children of Israel made bricks without straw | H |
| They were learnin' the regular work of our Corps | I |
| The work of etc | D |
| - | |
| For ever since then if a war they would wage | J |
| Behold us a shinin' on history's page | J |
| First page for etc | D |
| - | |
| We lay down their sidings an' help 'em entrain | E |
| An' we sweep up their mess through the bloomin' campaign | E |
| In the style of etc | D |
| - | |
| They send us in front with a fuse an' a mine | E |
| To blow up the gates that are rushed by the Line | E |
| But bent by etc | D |
| - | |
| They send us behind with a pick an' a spade | K |
| To dig for the guns of a bullock brigade | K |
| Which has asked for etc | D |
| - | |
| We work under escort in trousers and shirt | L |
| An' the heathen they plug us tail up in the dirt | L |
| Annoying etc | D |
| - | |
| We blast out the rock an' we shovel the mud | M |
| We make 'em good roads an' they roll down the khud | M |
| Reporting etc | D |
| - | |
| We make 'em their bridges their wells an' their huts | N |
| An' the telegraph wire the enemy cuts | N |
| An' it's blamed on etc | D |
| - | |
| An' when we return an' from war we would cease | O |
| They grudge us adornin' the billets of peace | O |
| Which are kept for etc | D |
| - | |
| We build 'em nice barracks they swear they are bad | M |
| That our Colonels are Methodist married or mad | M |
| Insultin' etc | D |
| - | |
| They haven't no manners nor gratitude too | M |
| For the more that we help 'em the less will they do | M |
| But mock at etc | D |
| - | |
| Now the Line's but a man with a gun in his hand | M |
| An' Cavalry's only what horses can stand | M |
| When helped by etc | D |
| - | |
| Artillery moves by the leave o' the ground | M |
| But we are the men that do something all round | M |
| For we are etc | D |
| - | |
| I have stated it plain an' my argument's thus | P |
| quot It's all one quot says the Sapper | B |
| There's only one Corps which is perfect that's us | P |
| An' they call us Her Majesty's Engineers | Q |
| Her Majesty's Royal Engineers | Q |
| With the rank and pay of a Sapper | B |
Rudyard Kipling
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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