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The Writings in Prose and Verse of Rudyard Kipling
The Writings in Prose and Verse of Rudyard Kipling Author:Rudyard Kipling Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE POWER OF THE DOG There is sorrow enough in the natural way From men and women to fill our day; But when we are certain of sorrow in store, Why do we alway... more »s arrange for more? Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear. Buy a pup and your money will buy Love unflinching that cannot lie— Perfect passion and worship fed By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head. Nevertheless it is hardly fair 'fo risk your heart for a dog to tear. When the fourteen years which Nature permits Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits, And the vet's unspoken prescription runs To lethal chambers or loaded guns, 'fhen you will find—it's your own affair But . . . you've given your heart to a dog to tear. When the body that lived at your single will When the whimper of welcome is stilled (how still!) When the spirit that answered your every mood Is gone—wherever it goes—for good, Ton will discover how much you care, And will give your heart to a dog to tear! We've sorrow enough in the natural way, When it comes to burying Christian clay. Our loves are not given, but only lent, At compound interest of cent per cent. Though it is not always the case, I believe, That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve: For, when debts are payable, right or wrong, A short-time loan is as bad as a long— So why in Heaven (before we are there!) Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear? THE MOTHER HIVE THE MOTHER HIVE IF THE stock had not been old and overcrowded, the Wax-moth would never have entered, but where bees are too thick on the comb there must be sickness or parasites. The heat of the hive had risen with the June honey-flow, and though the fanners worked, until their wings ached, to keep people cool, ever...« less