When 'Omer Smote 'Is Bloomin' Lyre
When 'Omer Smote 'Is Bloomin' Lyre - context Summary
Barrack-room Ballads, 1892
Published in 1892 within Kipling’s Barrack-Room Ballads, this short ballad uses a mock-vernacular narrator to compare himself to Homer, suggesting communal acceptance of borrowing songs and stories. The poem frames cultural theft as ordinary and winked-at behavior among ordinary people—market-girls, fishermen, shepherds—reflecting Kipling’s interest in popular speech and the shared habits of working-class and military communities.
Read Complete AnalysesWhen '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!
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