The Ballad Of The King's Mercy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EFDD GGHHEEII JJKL AAFE MMEEAA NNAAEEOOAALLHH HHPP FF LK QQ KKHH FF RR SS KK QQ AASSAbdhur Rahman the Durani Chief of him is the story told | A |
His mercy fills the Khyber hills his grace is manifold | A |
He has taken toll of the North and the South his glory reacheth far | B |
And they tell the tale of his charity from Balkh to Kandahar | B |
- | |
Before the old Peshawur Gate where Kurd and Kaffir meet | C |
The Governor of Kabul dealt the Justice of the Street | C |
And that was strait as running noose and swift as plunging knife | D |
Tho' he who held the longer purse might hold the longer life | D |
- | |
There was a hound of Hindustan had struck a Yusufzai | E |
Wherefore they spat upon his face and led him out to die | F |
It chanced the King went forth that hour when throat was bared to knife | D |
The Kafir grovelled under hoof and clamoured for his life | D |
- | |
Then said the King Have hope O friend Yea Death disgraced is hard | G |
Much honour shall be thine and called the Captain of the Guard | G |
Yar Khan a bastard of the Blood so city babble saith | H |
And he was honoured of the King the which is salt to Death | H |
And he was son of Daoud Shah the Reiver of the Plains | E |
And blood of old Durani Lords ran fire in his veins | E |
And 'twas to tame an Afghan pride nor Hell nor Heaven could bind | I |
The King would make him butcher to a yelping cur of Hind | I |
- | |
Strike said the King King's blood art thou his death shall be his pride | J |
Then louder that the crowd might catch Fear not his arms are tied | J |
Yar Khan drew clear the Khyber knife and struck and sheathed again | K |
O man thy will is done quoth he a King this dog hath slain | L |
- | |
Abdhur Rahman the Durani Chief to the North and the South is sold | A |
The North and the South shall open their mouth to a Ghilzai flag unrolled | A |
When the big guns speak to the Khyber peak and his dog Heratis fly | F |
Ye have heard the song How long How long Wolves of the Abazai | E |
- | |
That night before the watch was set when all the streets were clear | M |
The Governor of Kabul spoke My King hast thou no fear | M |
Thou knowest thou hast heard his speech died at his master's face | E |
And grimly said the Afghan King I rule the Afghan race | E |
My path is mine see thou to thine To night upon thy bed | A |
Think who there be in Kabul now that clamour for thy head | A |
- | |
That night when all the gates were shut to City and to throne | N |
Within a little garden house the King lay down alone | N |
Before the sinking of the moon which is the Night of Night | A |
Yar Khan came softly to the King to make his honour white | A |
The children of the town had mocked beneath his horse's hoofs | E |
The harlots of the town had hailed him butcher from their roofs | E |
But as he groped against the wall two hands upon him fell | O |
The King behind his shoulder spake Dead man thou dost not well | O |
'Tis ill to jest with Kings by day and seek a boon by night | A |
And that thou bearest in thy hand is all too sharp to write | A |
But three days hence if God be good and if thy strength remain | L |
Thou shalt demand one boon of me and bless me in thy pain | L |
For I am merciful to all and most of all to thee | H |
My butcher of the shambles rest no knife hast thou for me | H |
- | |
Abdhur Rahman the Durani Chief holds hard by the South and the North | H |
But the Ghilzai knows ere the melting snows when the swollen banks break forth | H |
When the red coats crawl to the sungar wall and his Usbeg lances fail | P |
Ye have heard the song How long How long Wolves of the Zukka Kheyl | P |
- | |
They stoned him in the rubbish field when dawn was in the sky | F |
According to the written word See that he do not die | F |
- | |
They stoned him till the stones were piled above him on the plain | L |
And those the labouring limbs displaced they tumbled back again | K |
- | |
One watched beside the dreary mound that veiled the battered thing | Q |
And him the King with laughter called the Herald of the King | Q |
- | |
It was upon the second night the night of Ramazan | K |
The watcher leaning earthward heard the message of Yar Khan | K |
From shattered breast through shrivelled lips broke forth the rattling breath | H |
Creature of God deliver me from agony of Death | H |
- | |
They sought the King among his girls and risked their lives thereby | F |
Protector of the Pitiful give orders that he die | F |
- | |
Bid him endure until the day a lagging answer came | R |
The night is short and he can pray and learn to bless my name | R |
- | |
Before the dawn three times he spoke and on the day once more | S |
Creature of God deliver me and bless the King therefor | S |
- | |
They shot him at the morning prayer to ease him of his pain | K |
And when he heard the matchlocks clink he blessed the King again | K |
- | |
Which thing the singers made a song for all the world to sing | Q |
So that the Outer Seas may know the mercy of the King | Q |
- | |
Abdhur Rahman the Durani Chief of him is the story told | A |
He has opened his mouth to the North and the South they have stuffed his mouth with gold | A |
Ye know the truth of his tender ruth and sweet his favours are | S |
Ye have heard the song How long How long from Balkh to Kandahar | S |
Rudyard Kipling
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Ballad Of The King's Mercy poem by Rudyard Kipling
Best Poems of Rudyard Kipling