Author: Rudyard Kipling

---

    The doors were wide, the story saith,
    Out of the night came the patient wraith.
    He might not speak, and he could not stir
    A hair of the Barons minniver.
    Speechless and strengthless, a shadow thin,
    He roved the castle to find his kin.
    And oh! twas a piteous sight to see
    The dumb ghost follow his enemy!
    The Return of Imray.



    Before my Spring I garnered Autumn's gain,
    Out of her time my field was white with grain,
    The year gave up her secrets, to my woe.
    Forced and deflowered each sick season lay
    In mystery of increase and decay;
    I saw the sunset ere men see the day,
    Who am too wise in all I should not know.
    Without Benefit of Clergy.



    Theres a convict more in the Central Jail,
    Behind the old mud wall;
    Theres a lifter less on the Border trail,
    And the Queen's Peace over all,
    Dear boys,
    The Queens Peace over all!



    For we must bear our leaders blame,
    On us the shame will fall,
    If we lift our hand from a fettered land
    And the Queers Peace over all,
    Dear boys,
    The Queens Peace over all!
    The Head of the District.



    The Earth gave up her dead that tide,
    Into our camp he came,
    And said his say and went his way,
    And left our hearts aflame.

    Keep tally, on the gun-butt score
    The vengeance we must take
    When God shall bring full reckoning
    For our dead comrades sake!
    The Man Who Was.



    The sky is lead, and our faces are red,
    And the Gates of Hell are opened and riven,
    And the winds of Hell are loosened and driven,
    And the dust flies up in the face of Heaven,
    And the clouds come down in a fiery sheet,
    Heavy to raise and hard to be borne.
    And the soul of man is turned from his meat,
    Turned from the trifles for which he has striven,
    Sick in his body and heavy-hearted,
    And his soul flies up like the dust in the street
    Breaks from his flesh and is gone and departed
    Like the blasts that they blow on the cholera-horn.
    At the End of the Passage.

---

Type of Poem: Narrative Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: The poem is a medley of different stories and themes, each stanza seemingly independent, yet subtly connected through an overarching exploration of life, death, and the human condition. The spectral presence in the first stanza sets an eerie tone, introducing themes of regret, longing, and unresolved conflict. The ghost's inability to communicate or interact with the physical world symbolizes the impotence one might feel in the face of unresolved past issues, a theme which is carried through the subsequent stanzas.

The second stanza communicates the harsh realities of premature wisdom and the lament of lost innocence. The poet uses agricultural metaphors, symbolizing life's cycles and the inevitability of decay. The third and fourth stanzas shift in tone and setting, delving into themes of law, order, and the moral ambiguities tied to leadership and power. These stanzas use repetition, creating a chant-like structure, which adds a communal voice to the narrative, enhancing its dramatic impact. The fifth stanza carries a palpable sense of loss and vengeance, with the promise of divine retribution adding a spiritual dimension to the narrative. The final stanza is apocalyptic in tone, with vivid imagery of destruction and despair. The references to dust and departure in this stanza echo the themes of mortality and the transience of earthly concerns introduced earlier in the poem. Overall, the poem is a rich tapestry of human emotions and experiences, bound together by recurring themes and a consistent, somber tone.