The Complete Poetical Works of Rudyard Kipling (570+ Poems in One Edition). Редьярд Джозеф Киплинг

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       From rail to ravine—to the peak from the vale—

       Up, up through the night goes the Overland Mail.

      There's a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road—

       A jingle of bells on the foot-path below—

       There's a scuffle above in the monkey's abode—

       The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow.

      For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail:

       "In the name of the Empress the Overland Mail!"

       What The People Said June 21st, 1887

       By the well, where the bullocks go

       Silent and blind and slow—

       By the field where the young corn dies

       In the face of the sultry skies,

       They have heard, as the dull Earth hears

       The voice of the wind of an hour,

       The sound of the Great Queen's voice:

       "My God hath given me years,

       Hath granted dominion and power:

       And I bid you, O Land, rejoice."

      And the ploughman settles the share

       More deep in the grudging clod;

       For he saith: "The wheat is my care,

       And the rest is the will of God.

      He sent the Mahratta spear

       As He sendeth the rain,

       And the Mlech, in the fated year,

       Broke the spear in twain.

      And was broken in turn. Who knows

       How our Lords make strife?

       It is good that the young wheat grows,

       For the bread is Life."

      Then, far and near, as the twilight drew,

       Hissed up to the scornful dark

       Great serpents, blazing, of red and blue,

       That rose and faded, and rose anew.

      That the Land might wonder and mark

       "Today is a day of days," they said,

       "Make merry, O People, all!"

       And the Ploughman listened and bowed his head:

       "Today and tomorrow God's will," he said,

       As he trimmed the lamps on the wall.

      "He sendeth us years that are good,

       As He sendeth the dearth,

       He giveth to each man his food,

       Or Her food to the Earth.

      Our Kings and our Queens are afar—

       On their peoples be peace—

       God bringeth the rain to the Bar,

       That our cattle increase."

      And the Ploughman settled the share

       More deep in the sun-dried clod:

       "Mogul Mahratta, and Mlech from the North,

       And White Queen over the Seas—

       God raiseth them up and driveth them forth

       As the dust of the ploughshare flies in the breeze;

       But the wheat and the cattle are all my care,

       And the rest is the will of God."

      The Undertaker's Horse

       Table of Contents

      "To-tschin-shu is condemned to death.

       How can he drink tea with the Executioner?"

       Japanese Proverb.

      The eldest son bestrides him,

       And the pretty daughter rides him,

       And I meet him oft o' mornings on the Course;

       And there kindles in my bosom

       An emotion chill and gruesome

       As I canter past the Undertaker's Horse.

      Neither shies he nor is restive,

       But a hideously suggestive

       Trot, professional and placid, he affects;

       And the cadence of his hoof-beats

       To my mind this grim reproof beats:—

       "Mend your pace, my friend, I'm coming. Who's the next?"

      Ah! stud-bred of ill-omen,

       I have watched the strongest go—men

       Of pith and might and muscle—at your heels,

       Down the plantain-bordered highway,

       (Heaven send it ne'er be my way!)

       In a lacquered box and jetty upon wheels.

      Answer, sombre beast and dreary,

       Where is Brown, the young, the cheery,

       Smith, the pride of all his friends and half the Force?

       You were at that last dread dak

       We must cover at a walk,

       Bring them back to me, O Undertaker's Horse!

      With your mane unhogged and flowing,

       And your curious way of going,

       And that businesslike black crimping of your tail,

       E'en with Beauty on your back, Sir,

       Pacing as a lady's hack, Sir,

       What wonder when I meet you I turn pale?

      It may be you wait your СКАЧАТЬ