Kipling poem - "The Power of the Dog"

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John F. Eldredge - 15 Oct 2006 00:50 GMT

A friend of mine has an elderly dog who had to have a blood
transfusion today, after having developed anemia as a side-effect of
an immunization. The dog is also blind, and has diabetes. I suspect
that she won't be around much longer. I sent him this poem by Rudyard
Kipling:

_The Power of the Dog_

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always 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
To 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 vets unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find its your own affair
But . . . youve given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone wherever it goes for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

Weve 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 weve 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?

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John F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

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Yowie - 15 Oct 2006 01:00 GMT

>A friend of mine has an elderly dog who had to have a blood
> transfusion today, after having developed anemia as a side-effect of
> an immunization. The dog is also blind, and has diabetes. I suspect
> that she won't be around much longer. I sent him this poem by Rudyard
> Kipling:

Purrs and wags for your friend.

> _The Power of the Dog_
>
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> So why in Heaven (before we are there)
> Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

My monitor has gone all misty. *sniff*

Yowie

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Will in New Haven - 15 Oct 2006 02:22 GMT

> A friend of mine has an elderly dog who had to have a blood
> transfusion today, after having developed anemia as a side-effect of
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
> than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

I encountered that poem when I was very young and I felt a kinship with
that deceased British poet from reading it. Here's another dog tribute
from the past and across the pond, unless of course you are across the
pond from me.

Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty
without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity,
and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices. This Praise, which
would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a
just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog. ~George Gordon, Lord
Byron, "Inscription on the Monument of a Newfoundland Dog"

Will in New Haven

--

"one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that,
lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of
their C programs." -- Robert Firth

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