Rudyard Kipling Short Poems

Famous Short Rudyard Kipling Poems. Short poetry by famous poet Rudyard Kipling. A collection of the all-time best Rudyard Kipling short poems


by Rudyard Kipling
 Roses red and roses white
Plucked I for my love's delight.
She would none of all my posies--
Bade me gather her blue roses.

Half the world I wandered through,
Seeking where such flowers grew.
Half the world unto my quest
Answered me with laugh and jest.

Home I came at wintertide,
But my silly love had died
Seeking with her latest breath
Roses from the arms of Death.

It may be beyond the grave
She shall find what she would have.
Mine was but an idle quest--
Roses white and red are best!


by Rudyard Kipling
 If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

by Rudyard Kipling
 You must n't swim till you're six weeks old,
 Or your head will be sunk by your heels;
 And summer gales and Killer Whales
 Are bad for baby seals.


 Are bad for baby seals, dear rat,
 As bad as bad can be;
 But splash and grow strong,
 And you can't be wrong,
 Child of the Open Sea!

by Rudyard Kipling
 Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, O'er the combers, looks downward to find us
At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, there soft by the pillow.
Oh, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, no shark shall overtake thee
Asleep in the storm of slow-swinging seas.

by Rudyard Kipling
 "THE WOMAN IN HIS LIFE"
I have done mostly what most men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can't forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.

Day after day, the whole day through --
Wherever my road inclined --
Four-feet said, "I am coming with you!"
And trotted along behind.

Now I must go by some other round, --
Which I shall never find --
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.


by Rudyard Kipling
 The ships destroy us above
 And ensnare us beneath.
We arise, we lie down, and we
 In the belly of Death.

The ships have a thousand eyes
 To mark where we come . . .
But the mirth of a seaport dies
 When our blow gets home.

Kim  Create an image from this poem
by Rudyard Kipling
 Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised,
With idiot moons and stars retracting stars?
Creep thou between -- thy coming's all unnoised.
Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars.
Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fray
(By Adam's, fathers', own, sin bound alway);
Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say
Which planet mends thy threadbare fate, or mars.

by Rudyard Kipling
 When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
 He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
An' what he thought 'e might require,
 'E went an' took -- the same as me!

The market-girls an' fishermen,
 The shepherds an' the sailors, too,
They 'eard old songs turn up again,
 But kep' it quiet -- same as you!

They knew 'e stole; 'e knew they knowed.
 They didn't tell, nor make a fuss,
But winked at 'Omer down the road,
 An' 'e winked back -- the same as us!

by Rudyard Kipling
 To-day, across our fathers' graves,
 The astonished years reveal
The remnant of that desperate host
 Which cleansed our East with steel.

Hail and farewell! We greet you here,
 With tears that none will scorn--
O Keepers of the House of old,
 Or ever we were born!

One service more we dare to ask--
 Pray for us, heroes, pray,
That when Fate lays on us our task
 We do not shame the Day!

by Rudyard Kipling
 1923

Man dies too soon, beside his works half-planned.
 His days are counted and reprieve is vain:
Who shall entreat with Death to stay his hand;
 Or cloke the shameful nakedness of pain?

Send here the bold, the seekers of the way--
 The passionless, the unshakeable of soul,
Who serve the inmost mysteries of man's clay,
 And ask no more than leave to make them whole.

by Rudyard Kipling
 I have eaten your bread and salt.
I have drunk your water and wine.
In deaths ye died I have watched beside,
And the lives ye led were mine.

Was there aught that I did not share
In vigil or toil or ease, --
One joy or woe that I did not know,
Dear hearts across the seas?

I have written the tale of our life
For a sheltered people's mirth,
In jesting guise -- but ye are wise,
And ye know what the jest is worth.

by Rudyard Kipling
 I have made for you a song
 And it may be right or wrong,
But only you can tell me if it's true.
 I have tried for to explain
 Both your pleasure and your pain,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!

 O there'll surely come a day
 When they'll give you all your pay,
And treat you as a Christian ought to do;
 So, until that day comes round,
 Heaven keep you safe and sound,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!

by Rudyard Kipling
 I have made for you a song,
 And it may be right or wrong,
But only you can tell me if it's true;
 I have tried for to explain
 Both your pleasure and your pain,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!

 O there'll surely come a day
 When they'll give you all your pay,
And treat you as a Christian ought to do;
 So, until that day comes round,
 Heaven keep you safe and sound,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!

by Rudyard Kipling
 'Less you want your toes trod of you'd better get back at once,
For the bullocks are walking two by two,
The byles are walking two by two, 
And the elephants bring the guns.
Ho! Yuss!
Great-big-long-black-forty-pounder guns.
Jiggery-jolty to and fro,
Each as big as a launch in tow --
Blind-dumb-broad-breeched--beggars o' battering-guns!
 My Lord the Elephant.

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter