Analysis of Municipal
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
"Why is my District death-rate low?"
Said Binks of Hezabad.
"Well, drains, and sewage-outfalls are
"My own peculiar fad.
"I learnt a lesson once, It ran
"Thus," quoth that most veracious man: --
It was an August evening and, in snowy garments clad,
I paid a round of visits in the lines of Hezabad;
When, presently, my Waler saw, and did not like at all,
A Commissariat elephant careering down the Mall.
I couldn't see he driver, and across my mind it rushed
That that Commissariat elephant had suddenly gone musth.
I didn't care to meet him, and I couldn't well get down,
So I let the Waler have it, and we headed for the town.
The buggy was a new one and, praise Dykes, it stood the strain,
Till he Waler jumped a bullock just above the City Drain;
And the next that I remember was a hurricane of squeals,
And the creature making toothpicks of my five-foot patent wheels.
He seemed to want the owner, so I fled, distraught with fear,
To the Main Drain sewage-outfall while he snorted in my ear --
Reached the four-foot drain-head safely and, in darkness and despair,
Felt the brute's proboscis fingering my terror-stiffened hair.
Heard it trumpet on my shoulder -- tried to crawl a little higher --
Found the Main Drain sewage outfall blocked, some eight feet up, with mire;
And, for twenty reeking minutes, Sir, my very marrow froze,
While the trunk was feeling blindly for a purchase on my toes!
It missed me by a fraction, but my hair was turning grey
Before they called the drivers up and dragged the brute away.
Then I sought the City Elders, and my words were very plain.
They flushed that four-foot drain-head and -- it never choked again!
You may hold with surface-drainage, and the sun-for-garbage cure,
Till you've been a periwinkle shrinking coyly up a sewer.
I believe in well-flushed culverts. . . .
This is why the death-rate's small;
And, if you don't believe me, get shikarred yourself. That's all.
Scheme | XAXABB AACC AXDD EEFF XXGG HXII JJEX XHFCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111 1111 1101011 110101 11010111 111111 11110100010101 110111000111 1100111011111 01100010101 11011100011111 111100110011 11011110110111 11101110110101 01010110111101 11110101010101 00111010101011 00101011111101 11110101110111 10111011110011 101111100010001 101010100110101 1110111011101010 10111011111111 011010101110101 101110101010111 11110101111101 01110101010101 111010100110101 11111110110101 111110100011101 1110110101010 1010111 1110111 0111011110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,890 |
Words | 343 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 42 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 185 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 1:44 min read
- 180 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Municipal" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33287/municipal>.
Discuss this Rudyard Kipling poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In