Parrots very busy in the trellised pepper-vine …
It is not clear who Jobson of this poem was supposed to be. Possibly he was the Jobson of ‘Hobson-Jobson’ (the English corruption of ‘Hassan!-Hussein!’ – the rallying cry of Shiite Moslems), thus relating to the poem’s theme of the unity of all religions. Possibly it is a code name for Job Charnock, the founder of modern Calcutta. Charnock married a beautiful Indian widow whom he had saved from a “suttee” funeral pyre; she died fourteen years before him, and he was buried beside her – which could explain the last line of the poem, “and the feet of my belovèd hurrying back through time”. But clearly this Jobson is a hybrid, both a Englishman and a so-called ‘heathen’. He gives a lip-service “Amen” to the prejudices of his more narrow-minded countrymen, then undercuts it with his ironic “but …” This poem, with its magic evocation of exotic sceneries, is a testament to the anti-sectarianism and inclusiveness of Kipling’s religious convictions.
A note about the pronunciation of ‘Himalaya’: Kipling, born in India, pronounced it the Indian way – Himálya – which gives the correct rhythm to the first line of the last verse.
Jobson’s Amen
"Blessèd be the English and all their ways and works. Cursèd be the Infidels, Hereticks, and Turks!" "Amen", quo' Jobson, "but where I used to lie Was neither Candle, Bell nor Book to curse my brethren by, "But a palm-tree in full bearing, bowing down, bowing down, To a surf that drove unsparing at the brown, walled town - Conches in a temple, oil-lamps in a dome - And a low moon out of Africa said: ‘This way home!’" "Blessèd be the English and all that they profess. Cursèd be the Savages that prance in nakedness!" "Amen", quo' Jobson, "but where I used to lie Was neither shirt nor pantaloons to catch my brethren by: "But a well-wheel slowly creaking, going round, going round, By a water channel leaking over drowned, warm ground - Parrots very busy in the trellised pepper-vine - And a high sun over Asia shouting: `Rise and shine!'" "Blessèd be the English and everything they own. Cursèd be the Infidels that bow to wood and stone!" "Amen", quo' Jobson, "but where I used to lie Was neither pew nor Godspelleer to save my brethren by: "But a desert stretched and stricken, left and right, left and right, Where the piled mirages thicken under white-hot light - A skull beneath a sand-hill and a viper coiled inside - And a red wind out of Libya roaring: `Run and hide!'" "Blessèd be the English and all they make or do. Cursèd be the Hereticks who doubt that this is true!" "Amen", quo' Jobson, "but where I mean to die Is neither rule nor calliper to judge the matter by: "But Himalaya heavenward-heading, sheer and vast, sheer and vast, In a million summits bedding on the last world's past - A certain sacred mountain where the scented cedars climb, And - the feet of my Belovèd hurrying back through Time!"