Little Beauties: Rudyard Kipling

"L'Envoi"
by Rudyard Kipling

When Earth’s last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colors have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it—lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew!
.
And those that were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets’ hair;
They shall find real saints to draw from—Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
.
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are!

4 comments:

Nicole said...

That was so beautiful!

batgirl said...

What a wonderful thing to think of. Visiting your blog is like getting samples of the best cheese at the deli. Makes me want to buy the whole wheel:)

Noël De Vries said...

Are you calling me cheesy?

;)

I love the line ... "but each for the joy of the working." Last night I was up late, finishing questions on Edmund Burke and the French Revolution. Then I opened my novel doc. The "joy of the working" hit me at that moment. It was so good to be writing something that wasn't about the difference between a revolution and a war for independence!

Thanks for your encouraging words, Janet. I love having you stop by!

(and you too, Marie! Two days of freedom left!)

Nicole said...

Well, staying home all day for the past two weeks or so was fine, but it gets kind of boring. I am kind of looking forward to going back on Tuesday, but my thoughts will probably change as soon as the first big tests start coming! I have ACTs this semester! AAAAHHHHHH. Ill need a good book then to keep me calm!