Bridge Guard in the Karroo – Rudyard Kipling

Photographs by Chris Marais

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]udden the desert changes,

The raw glare softens and clings,

Till the aching Oudtshoorn ranges

Stand up like the thrones of Kings —

 

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]amparts of slaughter and peril —

Blazing, amazing, aglow —

‘Twixt the sky-line’s belting beryl

And the wine-dark flats below.

 

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]oyal the pageant closes,

Lit by the last of the sun —

Opal and ash-of-roses,

Cinnamon, umber, and dun.

 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he twilight swallows the thicket,

The starlight reveals the ridge.

The whistle shrills to the picket —

We are changing guard on the bridge.

 

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ew, forgotten and lonely,

Where the empty metals shine —

No, not combatants-only

Details guarding the line.

 

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e slip through the broken panel

Of fence by the ganger’s shed;

We drop to the waterless channel

And the lean track overhead;

 

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e stumble on refuse of rations,

The beef and the biscuit-tins;

We take our appointed stations,

And the endless night begins.

 

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e hear the Hottentot herders

As the sheep click past to the fold —

And the click of the restless girders

As the steel contracts in the cold —

 

[dropcap]V[/dropcap]oices of jackals calling

And, loud in the hush between,

A morsel of dry earth falling

From the flanks of the scarred ravine.

 

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nd the solemn firmament marches,

And the hosts of heaven rise

Framed through the iron arches —

Banded and barred by the ties,

 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]ill we feel the far track humming,

And we see her headlight plain,

And we gather and wait her coming —

The wonderful north-bound train.

 

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ew, forgotten and lonely,

Where the white car-windows shine —

No, not combatants-only

Details guarding the line.

 

[dropcap]Q[/dropcap]uick, ere the gift escape us!

Out of the darkness we reach

For a handful of week-old papers

And a mouthful of human speech.

 

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nd the monstrous heaven rejoices,

And the earth allows again,

Meetings, greetings, and voices

Of women talking with men.

 

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]o we return to our places,

As out on the bridge she rolls;

And the darkness covers our faces,

And the darkness re-enters our souls.

 

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ore than a little lonely

Where the lessening tail-lights shine.

No – not combatants – only

Details guarding the line!