Author: Rudyard Kipling

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Sez the Junior Orderly Sergeant
To the Senior Orderly Man:
"Our Orderly Orf'cer's ~hokee-mut~,
You 'elp 'im all you can.
For the wine was old and the night is cold,
An' the best we may go wrong,
So, 'fore 'e gits to the sentry-box,
You pass the word along."

So it was "Rounds! What Rounds?" at two of a frosty night,
'E's 'oldin' on by the sergeant's sash, but, sentry, shut your eye.
An' it was "Pass! All's well!" Oh, ain't 'e drippin' tight!
'E'll need an affidavit pretty badly by-an'-by.

The moon was white on the barricks,
The road was white an' wide,
An' the Orderly Orf'cer took it all,
An' the ten-foot ditch beside.
An' the corporal pulled an' the sergeant pushed,
An' the three they danced along,
But I'd shut my eyes in the sentry-box,
So I didn't see nothin' wrong.

Though it was "Rounds! What Rounds?" O corporal, 'old 'im up!
'E's usin' 'is cap as it shouldn't be used, but, sentry, shut your eye.
An' it was "Pass! All's well!" Ho, shun the foamin' cup!
'E'll need, etc.

'Twas after four in the mornin';
We 'ad to stop the fun,
An' we sent 'im 'ome on a bullock-cart,
With 'is belt an' stock undone;
But we sluiced 'im down an' we washed 'im out,
An' a first-class job we made,
When we saved 'im, smart as a bombardier,
For six-o'clock parade.

It 'ad been "Rounds! What Rounds?" Oh, shove 'im straight again!
'E's usin' 'is sword for a bicycle, but, sentry, shut your eye.
An' it was "Pass! All's well!" 'E's called me "Darlin' Jane"!
'E'll need, etc.

The drill was long an' 'eavy,
The sky was 'ot an' blue,
An' 'is eye was wild an' 'is 'air was wet,
But 'is sergeant pulled 'im through.
Our men was good old trusties,
They'd done it on their 'ead;
But you ought to 'ave 'eard 'em markin' time
To 'ide the things 'e said!

For it was "Right flank, wheel!" for "'Alt, an' stand at ease!"
An' "Left extend!" for "Centre close!" O marker, shut your eye!
An' it was, "'Ere, sir, 'ere! before the Colonel sees!"
So he needed affidavits pretty badly by-an'-by.

There was two-an'-thirty sergeants,
There was corp'rals forty-one,
There was just nine 'undred rank an' file
To swear to a touch o' sun.
There was me 'e'd kissed in the sentry-box,
As I 'ave not told in my song,
But I took my oath, which were Bible truth,
I 'adn't seen nothin' wrong.

There's them that's 'ot an' 'aughty,
There's them that's cold an' 'ard,
But there comes a night when the best gets tight,
And then turns out the Guard.
I've seen them 'ide their liquor
In every kind o' way,
But most depends on makin' friends
With Privit Thomas A.!

When it is "Rounds! What Rounds?" 'E's breathin' through 'is nose.
'E's reelin', rollin', roarin' tight, but, sentry, shut your eye.
An' it is "Pass! All's well!" An' that's the way it goes:
We'll 'elp 'im for 'is mother, an' 'e'll 'elp us by-an'-by!

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Type of Poem: Ballad

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: Rudyard Kipling’s "The Shut-Eye Sentry" is a Narrative Barracks Ballad with strong elements of Military Humor, Comradeship, and Good-Natured Subversion. Told in a casual, conversational voice mimicking the speech of a British private, the poem recounts a night when an extremely drunk officer is "helped" by his men to complete his duties without being reported. The central theme is the tension—and mutual loyalty—between ranks in military life: the enlisted men protect their drunken superior not out of blind obedience, but out of a rough, affectionate comradeship born of shared human frailty.

The tone is comic, cheeky, and conspiratorial, full of affectionate mockery. Kipling captures perfectly the barracks-room culture where rules bend quietly among the enlisted to preserve the dignity of officers who might otherwise be disgraced. The repeated refrain, “Rounds! What Rounds?” followed by “Pass! All's well!” even when the officer is "reelin’, rollin’, roarin’ tight," gives the poem a musical, rollicking structure, emphasizing both the absurdity and the solidarity of the situation. The imagery is vivid and delightfully ridiculous: the officer using his sword like a bicycle, kissing a private in the sentry box, and calling out bizarre commands during parade the next morning.

Beneath the humor, however, Kipling subtly reveals a deep understanding of military culture: loyalty, discipline, and protection often run horizontally among soldiers, across ranks, based not on blind respect but on shared codes of honor and forgiveness. The enlisted men know the risks—if exposed, the officer’s career could end—but they choose to cover for him, remembering that even the "best gets tight" sometimes. Historically, this kind of affectionate insubordination reflects the pragmatic realism of Victorian and Edwardian army life, far from rigid textbook discipline.

Ultimately, "The Shut-Eye Sentry" is a brilliant, light-hearted celebration of human fallibility, forgiveness, and barracks-born solidarity. Kipling’s keen ear for vernacular speech and his deep sympathy for the "common soldier" make the poem a classic of military humor—warm, comic, and yet rooted in the real bonds that sustain men under the rigid, often absurd demands of military life.