The Hyaenas Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKM NONO| After the burial parties leave | A |
| And the baffled kites have fled | B |
| The wise hyaenas come out at eve | A |
| To take account of our dead | B |
| - | |
| How he died and why he died | C |
| Troubles them not a whit | D |
| They snout the bushes and stones aside | C |
| And dig till they come to it | D |
| - | |
| They are only resolute they shall eat | E |
| That they and their mates may thrive | F |
| And they know that the dead are safer meat | E |
| Than the weakest thing alive | F |
| - | |
| For a goat may butt and a worm may sting | G |
| And a child will sometimes stand | H |
| But a poor dead soldier of the King | G |
| Can never lift a hand | H |
| - | |
| They whoop and halloo and scatter the dirt | I |
| Until their tushes white | J |
| Take good hold of the army shirt | I |
| And tug the corpse to light | J |
| - | |
| And the pitiful face is shewn again | K |
| For an instant ere they close | L |
| But it is not discovered to living men | K |
| Only to God and to those | M |
| - | |
| Who being soulless are free from shame | N |
| Whatever meat they may find | O |
| Nor do they defile the dead man's name | N |
| That is reserved for his kind | O |
Rudyard Kipling
(1)
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