,p^ CCmNELL ^ UNIVERSITY . LIBRARY i^aUi-^ .-Maisw^^^'r BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 189I BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library PR 4851 1907 Collected verse. 3 1924 013 493 089 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013493089 COLLECTED VERSE OF RUDYARD KIPLING Other Book They s by Rudyard Kipling Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Traffics and Discoveries Barrack-Room Ballads The Five Nations Plain Tales from the Hills The Just So Song Book The Light That FaUed Kim Life's Handicap : Being Stories of Mine Stalky & Co. Own People The Day's Work Under the Deodars, the Phantom "Rick- The Brushwood Boy shaw, and Wee Willie Winkle From Sea to Sea Soldiers Three, The Story of the Gads- Many Inventions bys, and in Black and "White The Jungle Book Soldier Stories Second Jungle Book The Kipling Birthday Book Puck of Pook's HiU , (With Wolcott Balestier) The Naulahka Captains Courageous The Seven Seas Collected Verse Of Rudyard Kipling Gaedin City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1016 d. PR BALLADS AND BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS Copyright, 1892, bjr Macmillan & Company New Edition with Additional Poems Copyright, x8g3, by Macmillan & Company Copyright, 1809, by Rudyard Kipling DEPARTMENTAL DITTIES AND OTHER VERSE Revised April, i8qq Copyright, 1890. by Rudyard Kipling THE SEVEN SEAS Copyright. i8q6, by Rudyard Kipling Illustrated Edition Copyright, XQ05, by D. Appleton & Company THE FIVE NATIONS Copyright, 1903, by Rudyard Kipling COLLECTED VERSE Copyright, X907, by Rudyard Kipling Published October, 1907 AU rights reserved, induding that of translation into foreign languagts, including the Scandinavian CONTENTS CONTENTS The Fires xi Dedication from "BvTBck Room Ballads" 1 To the True Romance 3 Sestina of the Tramp-Royal 6 The Miracles 7 Song of the Wise Children 8 Buddha at Kamakura 10 The Sea-Wife 11 The Broken Men 13 The Song of the Banjo 15 The Explorer 10 The Sea and the Hills 23 Anchor Song 24 Rhyme of the Three Sealers 26 M' Andrew's Hymn 84 Mulholland's Contract 42 _The"Mary Gloster" 45 The Balladof "The Bolivar" 53 The Ballad of the" Clampherdown" 55 Cruisers 38 The Destroyers 60 White Horses 62 The Derelict 65 The Merchantmen 67 The Song of Diego Valdez 70 The Second Voyage 7S The Liner she 's a Ladv T5 vi CONTENTS The First Chantey W The Last Chantey 78 The Long Trail 80 A Song of the English 84 ' The Coastwise Lights 85 The Song of the Dead 86 The Deep-Sea Cables 89 The Song of the Sons 89 The Song of the Cities 80 England's Answer 93 To tht City of Bombay 94 Our Laiy of the Snows 96 An Ameincan 97 The Young Queen 100 The Flowers 102 The Native-Bom 103 The Lost Legion 108 Pharaoh and the Sergeant 110 Kitchener's School 113 Bridge-Guard in the Karroo 115 South Africa 118 The Burial 120 The Settler 121 Sussex 123 Dirge of Dead Sisters 126 The English Flag 123 ~^When Earth's Last Picture is Fainted 131 "Cleared" 132 -The Ballad of East and West 136 The Last Suttee 141 General Joubert 145 The Ballad of the King's Mercy 146 The Ballad of the King's Jest 149 With Scindia to Delhi 158 CONTENTS vU The Dove of Dacca 157 The BaUad of Boh Da Thone 159 The Sacrifice of Er-Heb 168 The Lament of the Border Cattle Thief 174 The Feet of the Young Men '. . 176 The Truce of the Bear 179 The Peace of Dives 182 An Imperial Rescript 186 Et Dona Ferentes 188 Service Songs — South African War Before a !f>Iidnight Breaks in Storm 193 The Bell Kioy 194 The Old lisue 197 The Lesscii 200 The Islanders 202 The Dyk« s 206 The Wag i-Slaves 208 Rimmon 210 The Refohners . 212 The OldMen 214 ^The Whpe Man's Burden 215 Hyinn Before Action 217 ^^cessiQnal 219 * The Tlpee-Decker 220 The Rhyme of the Three Captains 222 The Conundrum of the Workshops 227 ' Evarra and his Gods 229 In the Neolithic Age 231 The Story of Ung 233 The Files 236 The Legends of Evil 238 /Tomlinson ■ iev viii CONTENTS The Explanation 246 'The Answer 247 The Gift of the Sea 248 The King 250 The Last Rhyme of True Thomas 252 The Palace 257 Babrace Boom Ballads. I — Indian Sebvice To Thomas Atkins 261 .J)anny Deever 261 Tommy . 263 "Fuzzy-Wuzzy" 265 Soldier, Soldier 267 Screw-Guns 268 Cells 270 Gunga Din 271 Oonts 274 Loot 27« "Snarleyow" 278 The Widow at Windsor 280 Belts 281 The Young British Soldier 283 ^IVIandalay 285 froopin' 288 The Widow's Party 289 Ford o' Kabul River 291 Gentlemen-Rankers 292 Route Marchin' 294 Shillin' a Day 296 Barrack Room Ballads. II — General "Back to the Army Again" 801 "Birds of Prey "March SOS CONTENTS fas "Soldier an' SaUor too" 303 Sappers 307 That Day 310 "The Men that Fought at Minden" 811 Cholera Camp 313 The Ladies 315 Bill 'Awkms 317 The Mother-Lodge 318 "FoUow me 'Ome" 320 The Sergeant's Weddin' 322 The Jacket 324 The 'Eathen 326 The Shut-Eye Sentry 329 •s;Mary, Pity Women!" 331 "For to Admire" 333 Service Songs — Sotjth African War Chant-Pagan 339 M. 1 841 Columns 345 The Parting of the Columns 347 Two Kopjes 349 The Instructor 351 Boots 352 The Married Man 354 Lichtenberg 356 Stellenbosh 357 Half-Ballad of Waterval 359 Piet 360 "Wilful-Missing" 362 Ubique 364 The Return 365 THE FIRES iVlEN make them fires on the hearth Each under his roqf-tree. And the Four Winds thai ruk the earth They blow the smokes to me. Across the high hills and the sea And all the changeful skies. The Four Winds blow the smoke to me Till the tears are in my eyes. Until the tears are in my eyes And my heart is wellnigh broke; For thinking on old memories That gather in the snake. With every shift of every wind The homesick memories coTtie, From every quarter of mankind Where I have made me a home. Four times afire against the cold And a roof against the rain — Sorrow fourfold and joy fourfold The Four Winds bring again! How can I answer which is best Of all the fires that bum? I have been too often host or guest At every fire in turn. xii THE FIRES How can I turn from anyfirey On any maris hearthstonef I know the wmider and desire That went to build my own! How can I doubt maiCsjay or woe Where'' er his house-Jires shine. Since all that man must undergo Will visit me at mine? Oh, you Four Winds that blow so strong And know that this is true. Stoop for a little and carry my song To all the men I knew! Where there are fires against the -jold, Or roofs against the rain — With love fourfold and Joy fourfold. Take them my songs again. COLLECTED VERSE OF RUDYARD KIPLING COLLECTED VERSE OF KIPLING DEDICATION FROM "BARRACK ROOM BALLADS " IDEYOND the path of the outmost sun through utter dark- ness hurled — Further than ever comet flared or vagrant star-dust swirled — Live such as fought and sailed and ruled and loved and madt our world. They are purged of pride because they died, they know the worth of their hays; They sit at wine with the Maidens Nine and the Gods of the Elder Days — It is their will to serve or he still as fitteth Our Father's praise. 'T is theirs to sweep through the ringing deep where AzraeVs outposts are. Or buffet a path through the Pit's red wrath when God goes out to war. Or hang with the reckless Seraphim on the rein of a red- maned star. They take their mirth in the joy of the Earth — they dare not grieve for her pain — They know of toil and the end of toil, they know God's Law is plain. So they whistle the Devil to make them sport who know that Sin is vain. 2 COLLECTED VERSE OF And ofttvmes cometh our wise Lord God, master of every trade. And tells them tales of His daily toil, of Edens newly made; And they rise to their feet as He passes by, gentlemen tm- afraid. To these who are cleansed of base Desire, Sorrow and Lust and Shame — Gods for they knew the hearts of men, men for they stooped to Fame — Borne on the breath that men call Death, my brother's spirit came. He scarce had need to doff his pride or slough the dross of Earth — E'en as he trod that day to God so walked he from his birth. In simpleness and gentleness and honour and clean mirth. So cup to lip in fellowship they gave him welcome high And made him place at the banquet board — the Strong Men ranged thereby. Who had done his work and held his peace and had no fear to die. Beyond the loom of the last lone star, through open darkness hurled. Further than rebel comet dared or hiving star-swarm swirled. Sits lie with those that praise our God for that they served Hit world. RUDYARD KIPLING TO THE TRUE ROMANCE 1893 A HY face is far from this our war. Our call and counter-cry, I shall not find Thee quick and kind, Nor know Thee till I die. Enough for vie in dreams to see And touch Thy garments' hem: Thy feet have trod so near to God I may not follow them! Through wantonness if men profess They weary of Thy parts, E'en let them die at blasphemy And perish with their arts; But we that love, but we that prove Thine excellence august. While we adore, discover more — Thee perfect, wise, and just. Since spoken word Man's Spirit stirred Beyond his belly-need. What is is Thine of fair design In Thought and Craft and^Deed; Each stroke aright of toil and fight, That was and that shall be. And hope too high wherefore we die. Has birth and worth in Thee. Who holds by Thee hath Heaven in fee To gild his dross thereby, And knowledge sure that he endure A child until he die — COLLECTED VERSE OF For to make plain that man's disdain Is but new Beauty's birth — For to possess in merriness The joy of all the earth. As Thou didst teach all lovers speech And Life all mystery, So shalt Thou rule by every school Till life and longing die, Who wast or yet the Lights were set, A whisper in the Void, Who shalt be simg through planets young When this is clean destroyed. Beyond the bounds our staring rounds, Across the pressing dark. The children wise of outer skies Look hitherward and mark A light that shifts, a glare that drifts, Rekindling thus and thus. Not all forlorn, for Thou hast borne Strange tales to them of us. Time hath no tide but must abide The servant of Thy will ; Tide hath no time, for to Thy rhyme The ranging stars stand still — Regent of spheres that lock our fears Our hopes invisible. Oh 't was certes at Thy decrees We fashioned Heaven and Hell! Pure Wisdom hath no certain path That lacks thy morning-eyne. And captains bold by Thee controlled Most like to Gods design. RUDYARD KIPLING Thou art the Voice to kingly boys To lift them through the fight, And Comfortress of Unsuccess, To give the Dead good-night. A veil to draw 'twixt God His Law And Man's infirmity, A shadow kind to dumb and blind The shambles where we die; A rule to trick th' arithmetic. Too base, of leaguing odds — The spur of trust, the curb of lust. Thou handmaid of the Gods ! O Charity, all patiently Abiding wrack and scaith! Faith, that meets ten thousand cheats Yet drops no jot of faith! Devil and brute Thou dost transmute To higher, lordlier show. Who art in sooth that lovely Truth The careless angels know ! Thy face is far from this our war. Our call and counter-cry, 1 may not find Thee quick and kind. Nor know Thee till I die. Yet may I look with heart tmshook On blow brought home or missed — Yet may I hear with equal ear The clarions down the List; Yet set my lance above mischance And ride the barriere — Oh, hit or miss, how little 't is. My Lady is not there! 6 COLLECTED VERSE OF SESTINA OF THE TRAMP-ROYAL 1896 k^PEAKIN' in general, I 'ave tried 'em all — The 'appy roads that take you o'er the world. Speakin' in general, I 'ave found them good For such as cannot use one bed too long, But must get 'ence, the same as I 'ave done, An' go observin' matters till they die. What do it matter where or 'ow we die. So long as we 've our 'ealth to watch it all — The different ways that different things are done. An' men an' women lovin' in this world; Takin' our chances as they come along, An' when they ain't, pretendin' they are good? In cash or credit — no, it are n't no good ; You 'ave to 'ave the 'abit or you 'd die, Unless you lived your life but one day long. Nor did n't prophesy nor fret at all. But drew your tucker some'ow from the world, An' never bothered what you might ha' done. But, Gawd, what things are they I 'ave n't done ! I 've turned my 'and to most, an' turned it good. In various situations round the world — For 'im that doth not work must surely die ; But that 's no reason man should labour all 'Is life on one same shift ; life 's none so long. Therefore, from job to job I 've moved along. Pay could n't 'old me when my time was done, For something in my 'ead upset me all, Till I 'ad dropped whatever 't was for good. An', out at sea, be'eld the dock-lights die. An' met my mate — the wind that tramps the world! RUDYARD KIPLING It 's like a book, I think, this bloomin' world, Wliich you can read and care for just so long. But presently you feel that you will die Unless you get the page you 're readin' done. An' turn another — likely not so good; But what you 're after is to turn 'em all. Gawd bless this world ! Whatever she 'ath done - Excep' when awful long — I 've found it good. So write, before I die, " 'E liked it all! " THE MIRACLES 1894< 1 SENT a message to my dear — A thousand leagues and more to Her- The dumb sea levels thrilled to hear, And Lost Atlantis bore to Her! Behind my message hard I came. And nigh had found a grave for me; But that I launched of steel and flame Did war against the wave for me. Uprose the deep, in gale on gale, To bid me change my mind again — He broke his teeth along my rail, And, roaring, swung behind again. I stayed the sun at noon to tell My way across the waste of it; I read the storm before it fell And made the better haste of it. 8 COLLECTED VERSE OF Afar, I hailed the land at night — The towers I built had heard of me — And, ere my rocket reached its height. Had flashed my Love the word of me. Earth sold her chosen men of strength (They lived and strove and died for me) To drive my road a nation's length, And toss the miles aside for me. I snatched their toil to serve my needs — Too slow their fleetest flew for me. I tired twenty smoking steeds, And bade them bait a new for me. I sent the Lightnings forth to see Where hour by hour She waited me. Among ten million one was She, And surely all men hated me! Dawn ran to meet me at my goal — Ah, day no tongue shall tell again ! . . . And little folk of little soul Rose up to buy and sell again ! SONG OF THE WISE CHILDREN 1902 When the darkened Fifties dip to the North, And frost and the fog divide the air, And the day is dead at his breaking-forth, Sirs, it is bitter beneath the Bear ! RUDYARD KIPLING Jb'ar to Southward they wheel and glance, The million molten spears of morn — The spears of our deliverance That shine on the house where we were born. Flying-fish about our bows, Flying sea-fires in our wake: This is the road to our Father's House, Whither we go for our souls' sake! We have forfeited our birthright. We have forsaken all things meet ; We have forgotten the look of light, We have forgotten the scent of heat. They that walk with shaded brows. Year by year in a shining land, They be men of our Father's House, They shall receive us and understand. We shall go back by boltless doors. To the life unaltered our childhood knew — To the naked feet on the cool, dark floors, And the high-ceiled rooms that the Trade blows through : To the trumpet-flowers and the moon beyond. And the tree-toad's chorus drowning all — And the lisp of the split banana-frond That talked us to sleep when we were small. The wayside magic, the threshold spells. Shall soon undo what the North has done — Because of the sights and the sounds and the smells That ran with our youth in the eye of the sun. And Earth accepting shall ask no vows. Nor the Sea our love, nor our lover the Sky. When we return to our Father's House Only the English shall wonder why ! 10 COLLECTED VERSE OF BUDDHA AT KA.MAKURA 1892 " And there is a Japanese idol at Kamdkura ' vy YE who tread the Narrow Way ' By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day, Be gentle when " the heathen " pray To Buddha at Kamakura! To him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart, Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat, The Buddha of Kamakura. For though he neither burns nor sees. Nor hears ye thank your Deities, Ye have not sinned with such as these. His children at Kamakura; Yet spare us still the Western joke When joss-sticks turn to scented smoke The little sins of little folk That worship at Kamakura — The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterflies That flit beneath the Master's eyes. He is beyond the Mysteries But loves them at Kamakura. And whoso will, from Pride released. Contemning neither creed nor priest, May feel the Soul of all the East About him at Kamakura. RUDYARD KIPLING 11 Yea, every tale Ananda heard, Of birth as fish or beast or bird, While yet in lives the Master stirred. The warm wind brings Kamakura. Till drowsy eyelids seem to see A-flower 'neath her golden htee The Shwe-Dagon flare easterly From Burmah to Kamakura ; And down the loaded air there comes The thunder of Thibetan drums, And droned — " Om mane padme oms " — A world's width from Kamakura. Yet Brahmans rule Benares still, Buddh-Gaya's ruins pit the hill. And beef-fed zealots threaten ill To Buddha and Kamakura. A tourist-show, a legend told, A rusting bulk of bronze and gold, So much, and scarce so much, ye hold The meaning of Kamakura.'' But when the morning prayer is prayed. Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade, Is God in human image made No nearer than Kamakura? THE SEA-WIFE 1893 1 HERE dwells a wife by the Northern Gate, And a wealthy wife is she; She breeds a breed o' rovin' men And casts them over sea. n COLLECTED VERSE OF And some are drowned in deep water. And some in sight o' shore, And word goes back to the weary wife And-ever she sends ^ore. "For since that wife had gate or gear. Or hearth or garth or field, She willed her sons to the white harvest. And that is a bitter yield. She wills her sons to the wet ploughing, To ride the horse of tree, And syne her sons come back again Far-spent from out the sea. The good wife's sons come home again With little into their hands, But the lore of men that ha' dealt with men In the new and naked lands ; But the faith of men that have brothered men By more than easy breath, And the eyes o' men that have read with men In the open books of Death. Rich are they, rich in wonders seen. But poor in the goods o' men ; So what they ha' got by the skin of their teeth They sell for their teeth again. For whether they lose to the naked life Or win to their hearts' desire, They tell it all to the weary wife That nods beside the fire. Her hearth is wide to every wind That makes the white ash spin ; And tide and tide and 'tween the tides Her sons go out and in ; RUDYARD KIPLING ' 13 (Out with great mirth that do desire Hazard of trackless ways, In with content to wait their watch And warm before the blaze) ; And some return by failing light, And some in waking dream, For she hears the heels of the dripping ghosts That ride the rough roof-beam. Home, they come home from all the ports. The living and the dead; The good wife's sons come home again Foj,her blessing on their head! THE BROKEN MEN 1902 r OR things we never mention, For Art misunderstood — For excellent intention That did not turn to good ; From ancient tales' renewing, From clouds we would not clear — Beyond the Law's pursuing We fled, and settled here. We took no tearful leaving, We bade no long good-byes ; Men talked of crime and thieving, Men wrote of fraud and lies. To save our injured feelings 'T was time and time to go — Behind was dock and Dartmoor, Ahead lay Callao ! 14 COLLECTED VERSE OF The widow and the orphan That pray for ten per cent. They clapped their trailers on us To spy the road we went. They watched the foreign sailings (They scan the shipping still). And that 's your Christian people Returning good for ill ! God bless the thoughtful islands Where never warrants come ; God bless the just Republics That give a man a home. That ask no foolish questions. But set him on his feet ; And save his wife and daughters From the workhouse and the street ! On church and square and market The noonday silence falls ; You '11 hear the drowsy mutter Of the fountain in our halls. Asleep amid the yuccas The city takes her ease — Till twilight brings the land-wind To the clicking jalousies. Day long the diamond weather. The high, unaltered blue — The smell of goats and incense And the mule-bells tinkling through. Day long the warder ocean That keeps us from our kin. And once a month our levee When the English mail comes in. You '11 find us up and waiting To treat you at the bar; RUDYARD KIPLING IB You '11 find us less exclusive Than the average English are. We '11 meet you with a carriage. Too glad to show you round. But — we do not lunch on steamers, For they are English ground. We sail o' nights to England And join our smiling Boards ; Our wives go in with Viscounts And our daughters dance with Lords : But behind our princely doings. And behind each coup we make. We feel there 's Something Waiting, And — we meet It when we wake. Ah God ! One sniff of England — To greet our flesh and blood — To hear the hansoms slurring Once more through London mud ! Our towns of wasted honour — Our streets of lost delight ! How stands the old Lord Warden ? Are Dover's cliffs still white ? THE SONG OF THE BANJO 1894 Y OU could n't pack a Broadwood half a mile — You must n't leave a fiddle in the damp — You could n't raft an organ up the Nile, And play it in an Equatorial swamp. / travel with the cooking-pots and pails — I 'm sandwiched 'tween the coffee and the pork — And when the dusty column checks and tails. You should hear me spur the rearguard to a walk ! 16 COLLECTED VERSE OF With my " Pilly-willy-winhy-winky popp! " [Oh, it 's any tune that comes into my head ! ] So I keep 'em moving forward till they drop ; So I play 'em up to water and to bed. In the silence of the camp before the fight, When it 's good to make your will and say your prayer. You can hear my strumpty-tumpty overnight. Explaining ten to one was always fair. I 'm the Prophet of the Utterly Absurd, Of the Patently Impossible and Vain — And when the Thing that Could n't has occurred. Give me time to change my leg and go again. With my " Tumpa-tumpa-tumpa-tum-pa tump! " In the desert where the dung-fed camp-smoke curled. There was never voice before us till I led our lonely chorus, I — the war-drum of the White Man round the world ! By the bitter road the Younger Son must tread. Ere he win to hearth and saddle of his own, — 'Mid the riot of the shearers at the shed. In the silence of the herder's hut alone — In the twilight, on a bucket upside down. Hear me babble what the weakest won't confess — I am Memory and Torment — I am Town ! I am all that ever went with evening dress ! With my " Tunk-a tunka-tunha-tunka-tunkl " [So the lights — the London Lights — grow near and plain ! ] So I rowel 'em afresh towards the Devil and the Flesh, Till I bring my broken rankers home again. In desire of many marvels over sea. Where the new-raised tropic city sweats and roars, I have sailed with Young Ulysses from the quay Till the anchor rumbled down on stranger shores RUDYARD KIPLING 17 He is blooded to the open and the sky, He is taken in a snare that shall not fail. He shall hear me singing strfongly, till he die, Likte the'shoutin^ of a backstay in & gale. With my « Hya! Heeya! Heeyai Hullah! Haul! " [Oh the green that thunders aft along the deck!] Are you sick o' towns and men? You must sign and sail again. For it 's " Johnny Bowlegs, pack your kit and trek ! " Through the gorge that gives the stars at noon-day clear — Up the pass that packs the scud beneath our wheel — Round the bluff that sinks her thousand fathom sheer — Down the valley with our guttering brakes asqueal: Where the trestle groans and quivers in the snow. Where the many-shedded levels loop and twine, Hear me lead my reckless children from below Till we sing the Song of Roland to the pine. With my " Tmha-tmha-tmka-tmhartmk! " [Oh the axe has cleared the mountain, croup and crest !] And we ride the iron stallions down to drink, Through the canons to the waters of the West! And the tunes that means so much to you alone — Common tunes that make you choke and blow your nose, Vulgar times that bring the laugh that brings the groan - I can rip your very heartstrings out with those; With the feasting, and the folly, and the fun — And the lying, and the lusting, and the drink. And the merry play that drops you, when you 're done, To the thoughts that bum like irons if you think. 2 18 COLLECTED VERSE OF With my " Plunkar-lunka-lunha-lunka-lunk! " Here 's a trifle on account of pleasure past. Ere the wit that made you win gives you eyes to see youl sin And — the heavier repentance at the last! Let the organ moan her sorrow to the roof — I have told the naked stars the Grief of Man ! Let the trumpets snare the foeman to the proof — I have known Defeat, and mocked it as we ran ! My bray ye may not alter nor mistake When I stand to jeer the fatted Soul of Things, But the Song of Lost Endeavour that I make, Is it hidden in the twanging of the strings? With my " Ta-ra-rara-rara-ra-ra-rrrp! " [Is it naught to you that hear and pass me by?] But the word — the word is mine, when the order moves the Une And the lean, locked ranks go roaring down to die! The grandam of my grandam was the Lyre — [0 the blue below the little fisher-huts !] That the Stealer stooping beachward filled with fire, "^ Till she bore my iron head and ringing guts ! By the wisdom of the centuries I speak — To the tune of yestermorn I set the truth — I, the joy of life unquestioned — I, the Greek — I, the everlasting Wonder Song of Youth ! With my " Tmka-tinka-tinka-tijika-t'vnh! " [What d'ye lack, my noble masters? What d'ye lack?] So I draw the world together link by link : Yea, from Delos up to Limerick and backl RUDYARD KIPLING 19 THE EXPLORER 1898 1 HERE 'S no sense in going further — it *s the edge of cultivation," So they said, and I believed it — broke my land and sowed my crop — Built my barns and strung my fences in the little border station Tucked away below the foothills where the trails run out and stop. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated — so : " Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges — "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting foi you. Go!" So I went, worn out of patience; never told my nearest neighbours — Stole away with pack and ponies — left 'em drinking in the town; And the faith that moveth mountains did n't seem to help loy labours As I faced the sheer main-ranges, whipping up and leading down. March by march I puzzled through 'em, turning flanks and dodg- ing" shoulders. Hurried on in hope of water, headed back for lack of grass; Till I camped above the tree-line — drifted snow and naked boulders — Felt free air astir to windward — knew I 'd stumbled on tho Pass. 20 COLLECTED VERSE OF Thought to name it for the finder: but that night the Northel found me — Froze and killed the plains-bred ponies ; so I called the camp Despair (It's the Railway Cap to-day, though). Then my Whispv