StoryTitle("caps", "The Overland-Mail") ?>
Overland-Mail" is a most desirable poem for children to learn. When
one boy learns it the others want to follow. It takes as a hero the
man who gives common service—the one who does not lead or command,
but follows the line of duty. (1865-1936.)
PoemStart() ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "In the name of the Empress of India, make way,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "O Lords of the Jungle wherever you roam,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The woods are astir at the close of the day—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "We exiles are waiting for letters from Home—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Let the robber retreat; let the tiger turn tail,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "With a jingle of bells as the dusk gathers in,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "He turns to the foot-path that leads up the hill—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The bags on his back, and a cloth round his chin,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And, tucked in his belt, the Post-Office bill;—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Despatched on this date, as received by the rail,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Per runner, two bags of the Overland-Mail.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Is the torrent in spate? He must ford it or swim.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Has the rain wrecked the road? He must climb by the cliff.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Does the tempest cry \"Halt\"? What are tempests to him?", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The service admits not a \"but\" or an \"if\";", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "From aloe to rose-oak, from rose-oak to fir,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "From level to upland, from upland to crest,", "") ?>
PagePoem(126, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "From rice-field to rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Fly the soft-sandalled feet, strains the brawny brown chest.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "From rail to ravine—to the peak from the vale—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Up, up through the night goes the Overland-Mail.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "There's a speck on the hillside, a dot on the road—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "A jingle of bells on the foot-path below—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "There's a scuffle above in the monkeys' abode—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The world is awake, and the clouds are aglow—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For the great Sun himself must attend to the hail;—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "In the name of the Empress the Overland-Mail.", "") ?>
PoemAttribution("100", SmallCapsText("Rudyard Kipling.")) ?>
PoemEnd() ?>