Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads

by Rudyard Kipling

For works with similar titles, see Barrack-Room Ballads.

Layout 2

 

BALLADS

AND

BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS

 

 

 

 

BALLADS

AND

BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS

 

BY

RUDYARD KIPLING
Author of “Plain Tales from the Hills,” “The Naulahka,” etc.

 

New York
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND LONDON
1892

All rights reserved

 

Copyright, 1892,

By MACMILLAN AND CO.

 

Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A.

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Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston, U.S.A.

To

WOLCOTT BALESTIER

Beyond the path of the outmost sun, through utter darkness hurled,
Further than ever comet flared or vagrant star-dust swirled,
Sit such as fought and sailed and ruled and loved and made our world.

They are purged of pride because they died; they know the worth of their bays;
They sit at wine with the Maidens Nine, and the Gods of the Elder Days—
It is their will to serve or be still as fitteth our Father’s praise.

’Tis theirs to sweep through the ringing deep where Azrael’s 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—
For 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.

And ofttimes cometh our wise Lord God, master of every trade,
And tells them tales of the Seventh Day—of Edens newly made,
And they rise to their feet as He passes by—gentlemen unafraid.

To these who are cleansed of base Desire, Sorrow and Lust and Shame—
Gods, for they knew the heart of Men—men, for they stooped to Fame—
Borne on the breath that men call Death, my brother’s spirit came.

Scarce had he need to cast his pride or slough the dross of earth.
Even 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 he with such as praise our God for that they served his world.

PREFACE

The greater part of the ‘Barrack-Room Ballads,’ as well as ‘Cleared,’ ‘Tomlinson,’ and ‘The English Flag’ have appeared in the ‘National Observer.’ Messrs. Macmillan and Co. have kindly given me permission to reproduce four ballads contributed to their Magazine, and I am indebted to the ‘St. James Gazette’ for a like courtesy in regard to the ballads of the ‘Clampherdown’ and ‘Bolivar,’ and the ‘Imperial Rescript.’ ‘The Rhyme of the Three Captains’ was printed first in the ‘Athenæum.’ I fancy that most of the other verses are new.

RUDYARD KIPLING.

 

CONTENTS

Ballads

page
THE BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST
Oh East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,	3
THE LAST SUTTEE
Udai Chand lay sick to death,	12
THE BALLAD OF THE KING’S MERCY
Abdhur Rahman, the Durani Chief, of him is the story told,	18
THE BALLAD OF THE KING’S JEST
When spring-time flushes the desert grass,	25
WITH SCINDIA TO DELHI
The wreath of banquet overnight lay withered on the neck,	31
THE BALLAD OF BOH DA THONE
This is the ballad of Boh Da Thone,	40
THE LAMENT OF THE BORDER CATTLE THIEF
O woe is me for the merry life,	53
THE RHYME OF THE THREE CAPTAINS
. . . At the close of a winter day,	56
THE BALLAD OF THE ‘CLAMPHERDOWN’
It was our war-ship ‘Clampherdown,’	64
THE BALLAD OF THE ‘BOLIVAR’
Seven men from all the world, back to docks again,	69
THE SACRIFICE OF ER-HEB
Er-Heb beyond the hills of Ao-Safai,	74
THE EXPLANATION
Love and Death once ceased their strife,	85
THE GIFT OF THE SEA
The dead child lay in the shroud,	86
EVARRA AND HIS GODS
Read here: This is the story of Evarra—man—,	90
THE CONUNDRUM OF THE WORKSHOPS
When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden’s green and gold,	94
THE LEGEND OF EVIL
This is the sorrowful story,	98
THE ENGLISH FLAG
Winds of the World, give answer? They are whimpering to and fro—,	102
‘CLEARED’
Help for a patriot distressed, a spotless spirit hurt,	108
AN IMPERIAL RESCRIPT
Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser decreed,	116
TOMLINSON
Now Tomlinson gave up the ghost in his house in Berkeley Square,	120

 

Barrack-Room Ballads

page
DANNY DEEVER
‘What are the bugles blowin’ for?’ said Files-on-Parade,	133
TOMMY
I went into a public-’ouse to get a pint o’ beer,	136
‘FUZZY-WUZZY’
We’ve fought with many men acrost the seas,	140
SOLDIER, SOLDIER
‘Soldier, soldier, come from the wars,’	143
SCREW-GUNS
Smokin’ my pipe on the mountings, sniffin’ the mornin’ cool,	146
CELLS
I’ve a head like a concertina: I’ve a tongue like a button-stick,	150
GUNGA DIN
You may talk o’ gin and beer,	153
OONTS!
Wot makes the soldier’s ’eart to penk, wot makes him to perspire?	157
LOOT
If you’ve ever stole a pheasant-egg be’ind the keeper’s back,	161
‘SNARLEYOW’
This ’appened in a battle to a batt’ry of the corps,	165
THE WIDOW AT WINDSOR
’Ave you ’eard o’ the Widow at Windsor,	169
BELTS
There was a row in Silver Street that’s near to Dublin Quay,	172
THE YOUNG BRITISH SOLDIER
When the ’arf-made recruity goes out to the East,	176
MANDALAY
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin’ eastward to the sea,	180
TROOPIN’
Troopin’, troopin’, troopin’ to the sea,	184
THE WIDOW’S PARTY
‘Where have you been this while away,’	187
FORD O’ KABUL RIVER
Kabul town’s by Kabul river—,	190
GENTLEMEN-RANKERS
To the Legion of the Lost Ones to the Cohort of the Damned,	193
ROUTE-MARCHIN’
We’re marchin’ on relief over Injia’s sunny plains,	196
SHILLIN’ A DAY
My name is O’Kelly, I’ve heard the revelly,	200
L’ENVOI
There’s a whisper down the field where the year has shot her yield,	202

WORKS BY RUDYARD KIPLING.

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IN THE PRESS.

THE NAULAHKA.

By Rudyard Kipling and the late Wolcott Balestier.

LIFE’S HANDICAP.

STORIES OF MINE OWN PEOPLE,

12mo, cloth. $1.00.

In this volume the following stories are published for the first time:

The Finances of the Gods.	The Limitations of Pambé Serang.
The Lang Men o’ Larut.	Little Tobrah.
Reingelder and the German Flag.	Bubbling Well Road.
The Wandering Jew.	The City of Dreadful Night.
Through the Fire.	Georgie Porgie.
The Amir’s Homily.	Naboth.
Jews in Shushan.	The Dream of Duncan Parrenness.

No volume of his yet published gives a better illustration of his genius, and of the weird charm which have given his stories such deserved popularity.—Boston Daily Traveller.

Some of Mr. Kipling’s best work is in this volume. Mr. Kipling is a literary artist of the first rank, and everything in the way of short stories he has written thus far has proved itself to be well worth the reading.—Boston Beacon.

THE LIGHT THAT FAILED.

12mo. $1.50.

“The Light that Failed” is an organic whole,—a book with a backbone,—and stands out boldly among the nerveless, placid, invertebrate things called novels that enjoy an expensive but ephemeral existence in the circulating libraries.—Athenæum.

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MACMILLAN & CO.,

112 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

PLAIN TALES FROM THE HILLS.

Cloth. 12mo. $1.50.

Mr. Kipling knows and appreciates the English in India, and is a born story-teller and a man of humour into the bargain. . . . It would be hard to find better reading.—The Saturday Review.

Every one knows that it is not easy to write good short stories. Mr. Kipling has changed all that. Here are forty of them averaging less than eight pages apiece; there is not a dull one in the lot. Some are tragedy, some broad comedy, some tolerably sharp satire. The time has passed to ignore or undervalue Mr. Kipling. He has won his spurs and taken his prominent place in the arena. This, as the legitimate edition, should be preferred to the pirated ones by all such as care for honesty in letters.—Churchman.

One of the first things that strikes the reader is the exceptional excellence of the tales. In so large a collection as forty stories one naturally expects to find some two or three of peculiar power dwarfing the rest. It is the fate of most collections, but here there are at least a dozen, possibly even a score, with regard to which it would be quite impossible to say that this or that is the most powerful or the most beautiful. The explanation is simple—the variety equals the intensity, the imaginative insight, the literary tact. Indeed, we are not sure whether this variety—inexhaustible it seems—is not by far and away the most striking and the most satisfactory characteristic of the volume. The man who wrote these tales has manifestly numberless others to tell. . . . Character, situation, incident, humour, pathos, tragic force, are all in abundance; words alone are at a minimum. Of course these are “plain” tales,—lightning-flash tales. A gleam, and there the whole tragedy or comedy is before you—elaborate it for yourself afterwards,—Glasgow Herald.

Whatever may be Mr. Kipling's ability in the higher walks of fiction, his ability as a story-teller or for narrating such incidents, whether real or fictitious, as are here put together is beyond question. They are told with ease, force, and directness. The humorous stories are probably the best, but whether humorous or grave—and there are both in the volume—they throw considerable light upun certain phases of European society in India and on numerous aspects of native Indian life. There is not an uninteresting story in the volume, and one closes the book with the desire to read the “other stories" Mr. Kipling so often alludes to, and somewhat tantalizingly passes over.—Scottish Review

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MACMILLAN & CO.,

112 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

THE WORKS OF

MR. WILLIAM WINTER.

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SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND. New Edition, revised and enlarged. 18mo. Cloth. 75 cents.

“He offers something more than guidance to the American traveller. He is a convincing and eloquent interpreter of the august memories and venerable sanctities of the old country.”—Saturday Review.

“The book is delightful reading. . . . It is a delicious view of England which this poet takes. It is indeed the noble, hospitable, merry, romance-haunted England of our fathers—the England which we know of in song and story.”—Scribner’s Monthly.

GRAY DAYS AND GOLD. 18mo. Cloth. 75 cents.

“Is as friendly and good-humoured a book on English scenes as any American has written since Washington Irving.”—Daily News, London.

“They who have never visited the scenes which Mr. Winter so charmingly describes will be eager to do so in order to realise his fine descriptions of them, and they who have already visited them will be incited by his eloquent recital of their attractions to repeat their former pleasant experiences.”—Public Ledger, Philadelphia.

WANDERERS: A Collection of Poems. 18mo. Cloth. 75 cents.

“Free from cant and rant—clear cut as a cameo, pellucid as a mountain-brook. It may be derided as trite, borné, unimpassioned; but in its own modest sphere it is, to our thinking, extraordinarily successful, and satisfies us far more than the pretentious mouthing which receives the seal of over-hasty approbation.”—Athenæum.

THE PRESS AND THE STAGE. An Oration by William Winter. Delivered before the Goethe Society, at the Brunswick Hotel, New York, January 28, 1889. Printed on hand-made paper. 8vo. $1.50.

In the Press—SHADOWS OF THE STAGE. 18mo. Cloth. 75 cents.

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MACMILLAN & CO.,

112 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

NEW UNIFORM EDITION OF

F. MARION CRAWFORD’S NOVELS.

F. MARION CRAWFORD. Messrs. Macmillan & Co. have much pleasure in announcing that they are about to issue a New Edition of |F. Marion Crawford’s Novels in monthly 12mo volumes, in uniform cloth binding, at One Dollar per volume. The volumes will be issued in the following order:—

MR. ISAACS. A Tale of Modern India	Ready.
DOCTOR CLAUDIUS	Ready.
ZOROASTER	Ready.
THE THREE FATES. A New Novel	Ready.
A TALE OF A LONELY PARISH	May.
SARACINESCA	June.
Marzio's CrucifixMARZIO’S CRUCIFIX	July.
WITH THE IMMORTALS	August.
GREIFENSTEIN	September.
SANT’ ILARIO	October
A CIGARETTE-MAKER’S ROMANCE	November.
KHALED. A Tale of Arabia	December.
THE WITCH OF PRAGUE	January.

MR. ISAACS. A Tale of Modern India.

“If considered only as a semi-love story, it is exceptionally fascinating; but when judged as a literary effort, it is truly great.”—Home Journal.

“Under an unpretentious title we have here the most brilliant novel, or rather romance, that has been given to the world for a very long time.”—The American.

“No story of human experience that we have met with since ‘John Inglesant’ has such an effect of transporting the reader into regions differing from his own. ‘Mr. Isaacs’ is the best novel that has ever laid its scenes in our Indian dominions.”—The Daily News.

“A work of unusual ability. . . . It fully deserves the notice it is sure to attract.”—The Athenæum.

“A story of remarkable freshness and promise, displaying exceptional gifts of imagination.”—The Academy.

DR. CLAUDIUS. A True Story.

“An interesting and attractive story, and in some directions a positive advance upon ‘Mr. Isaacs.’”—New York Tribune.

“‘Dr, Claudius’ is surprisingly good, coming after a story of so much merit as ‘Mr. Isaacs.’ The hero is a magnificent specimen of humanity, and sympathetic readers will be fascinated by his chivalrous wooing of the beautiful American countess.”—Boston Traveller.

ZOROASTER.

“The novel opens with a magnificent description of the march of the Babylonian court to Belshazzar’s feast, with the sudden and awful ending of the latter by the marvellous writing on the wall which Daniel is called to interpret. From that point the story moves on in a series of grand and dramatic scenes and incidents which will not fail to hold the reader fascinated and spell-bound to the end.”—Christian at Work.

“The field of Mr. Crawford’s imagination appears to be unbounded. . . . In ‘Zoroaster’ Mr. Crawford’s winged fancy ventures a daring flight. . . . Yet ‘Zoroaster’ is a novel rather than a drama. It is a drama in the force of its situations and in the poetry and dignity of its language; but its men and women are not men and women of a play. By the naturalness of their conversation and behavior they seem to live and lay hold of our human sympathy more than the same characters on a stage could possibly do.”—The Times.

A TALE OF A LONELY PARISH.

“It is a pleasure to have anything so perfect of its kind as this brief and vivid story. . . . It is doubly a success, being full of human sympathy, as well as thoroughly artistic in its nice balancing of the unusual with the commonplace, the clever juxtaposition of innocence and guilt, comedy and tragedy, simplicity and intrigue.”—Critic.

SARACINESCA.

“His highest achievement, as yet, in the realms of fiction. The work has two distinct merits, either of which would serve to make it great,—that of telling a perfect story in a perfect way, and of giving a graphic picture of Roman society in the last days of the Pope’s temporal power. . . . The story is exquisitely told,”—Boston Traveller.

“One of the most engrossing novels we have ever read.”—Boston Times.

MARZIO’S CRUCIFIX.

“Now this is brought out in this little story with the firmness of touch, a power and skill which belong to the first rank in art. . . . We take the liberty of saying that this work belongs to the highest department of character painting in words,”—Churchman.

“‘Marzio’s Crucifix’ is another of those tales of modern Rome which show the author so much at his ease. A subtle compound of artistic feeling, avarice, malice, and criminal frenzy is this carver of silver chalices and crucifixes.”—The Times.

WITH THE IMMORTALS.

“Altogether an admirable piece of art worked in the spirit of a thorough artist. Every reader of cultivated tastes will find it a book prolific in entertainment of the most refined description, and to all such we commend it heartily.”—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

GREIFENSTEIN.

“‘Greifenstein’ is a remarkable novel, and while it illustrates once more the author’s unusual versatility, it also shows that he has not been tempted into careless writing by the vogue of his earlier books. . . . There is nothing weak or small or frivolous in the story. The author deals with tremendous passions, working at the height of their energy. His characters are stern, rugged, determined men and women, governed by powerful prejudices and iron conventions, types of a military people, in whom the sense of duty has been cultivated until it dominates all other motives, and in whom the principle of ‘noblesse oblige’ is, so far as the aristocratic class is concerned, the fundamental rule of conduct. What such people may be capable of is startlingly shown.”—New York Tribune.

SANT’ ILARIO. A Sequel to “Saracinesca.”

“The author shows steady and constant improvement in his art. ‘Sant’ Ilario' is a continuation of the chronicles of the Saracinesca family. . . . A singularly powerful and beautiful story. . . . Admirably developed, with a naturalness beyond praise. . . . It must rank with ‘Greifenstein’ as the best work the author has produced. It fulfils every requirement of artistic fiction. It brings out what is most impressive in human action, without owing any of its effectiveness to sensationalism or artifice. It is natural, fluent in evolution, accordant with experience, graphic in description, penetrating in analysis, and absorbing in interest.”—New York Tribune.

A CIGARETTE-MAKER’S ROMANCE.

“It is a touching romance, filled with scenes of great dramatic power.”—Boston Commercial Bulletin.

“It is full of life and movement, and is one of the best of Mr. Crawford's books,”—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

“The interest is unflagging throughout. Never has Mr. Crawford done more brilliant realistic work than here. But his realism is only the case and cover for those intense feelings which, placed under no matter what humble conditions, produce the most dramatic and the most tragic situations. . . . This is a secret of genius, to take the most coarse and common material, the meanest surroundings, the most sordid material prospects, and out of the vehement passions which sometimes dominate all human beings to build up with these poor elements scenes and passages, the dramatic and emotional power of which at once enforce attention and awaken the profoundest interest.”—New York Tribune.

KHALED. A Tale of Arabia.

“The story is powerful, it is pervaded by fine poetic feeling, is picturesque to a remarkable degree, and the local colour is extraordinary in its force and truth. Of the many admirable contributions to the literature of fiction that Mr. Crawford has made, this book is, on the whole, the most artistic in construction and finish, and the thorough artist is apparent at every stage of the story. His plot is intensely dramatic, but he has never permitted it to sway him to the extent of slighting any of the more minute details under the impulse of merely telling what he has to tell. He holds his theme firmly in hand and controls instead of being controlled by it. The characters have been drawn with the greatest care, and stand out in bold relief and fine contrast. The atmosphere of the East is in every page, in every utterance.”—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

THE WITCH OF PRAGUE. A Fantastic Tale.

“Mr. Crawford has written in many keys, but never in so strange a one as that which dominates ‘The Witch of Prague.’ . . . The artistic skill with which this extraordinary story is constructed and carried out is admirable and delightful. . . . Mr. Crawford has scored a decided triumph, for the interest of the tale is sustained throughout. . . . A very remarkable, powerful, and interesting story.”—New York Tribune.

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MACMILLAN & CO.,

112 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

WORKS BY HENRY JAMES.

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A NEW VOLUME OF STORIES.

THE LESSON OF THE MASTER,
AND OTHER STORIES.

12mo, cloth extra, $1.00.

THE PRINCESS CASAMASSIMA.

12mo, $1.25.

We find no fault with Mr. Henry James’s ‘‘Princess Casamassima.” It is a great novel; it is his greatest, and it is incomparably the greatest novel of the year in our language. . . . From first to last we find no weakness in the book; the drama works simply and naturally; the causes and effects are logically related; the theme is made literature without ceasing to be life.—Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Editor’s Study.

THE REVERBERATOR.

12mo, $1.00.

The public will be glad to find Mr. James in his best vein. One is thankful again that there is so brilliant an American author to give us entertaining sketches of life.—Boston Herald.

THE ASPERN PAPERS,
AND OTHER STORIES.

12mo, $1.00.

The stories are told with that mastery of the art of story-telling which their writer possesses in a conspicuous degree.—Literary World.

PARTIAL PORTRAITS.

12mo, $1.75.

{{fine|Henry James has never appeared to better advantage as an author than in this delightful volume of critical essays.—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.

THE BOSTONIANS.

12mo, $1.25.

Unquestionably ‘‘The Bostonians” is not only the most brilliant and remarkable of Mr. James’s novels, but it is one of the most important of recent contributions to literature.—Boston Courier.

A LONDON LIFE,
AND OTHER STORIES.

12mo, $1.00.

His short stories, which are always bright and sparkling, are delightful. . . . Will bear reading again and again.—Mail and Express.

FRENCH POETS AND NOVELISTS.

12mo, $1.50.

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MACMILLAN & CO.,

112 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK