The Seven Seas by Rudyard Kipling .

London: Methuen And Co. Ltd., 36 Essex Street, 1916 .. A very good half leather binding. 8vo. 7.5" x 4.75" x 0.75" . Navy blue calf covered spine and corners over blue cloth covered boards. Edges lightly rubbed. Polished leather spine with 5 raised bands, gilt decorated compartments and gilt titles. Top page edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Clean text throughout. VG.THERE was Rundle, Station Master, An' Beazeley of the Rail, An' 'Ackman, Commissariat, An' Donkin' o' the Jail; An' Blake, Conductor-Sergeant, Our Master twice was 'e, With im that kept the Europe-shop, Old Framjee Edu1jee.Outside - " Sergeant! Sir! Salute! Salaam!Inside - 'Brother," an' it doesn't do no 'arm.We met upon the Level an' we parted on the Square,An' I was junior Deacon in my Mother-Lodge out there!We'd Bola Nath, Accountant,An' Saul the Aden Jew,An' Din Mohammed, draughtsmanOf the Survey Office too;There was Babu Chuckerbutty,An' Amir Singh the Sikh,An' Castro from the fittin'-sheds,The Roman Catholick!We 'adn't good regalia,An' our Lodge was old an' bare,But we knew the Ancient Landmarks,An' we kep' 'em to a hair;An' lookin' on it backwardsIt often strikes me thus,There ain't such things as infidels,Excep', per'aps, it's us.For monthly, after Labour,We'd all sit down and smoke(We dursn't give no banquets,Lest a Brother's caste were broke),An' man on man got talkin'Religion an' the rest,An' every man comparin'Of the God 'e knew the best.So man on man got talkin',An' not a Brother stirredTill mornin' waked the parrotsAn' that dam' brain-fever-bird.We'd say 'twas 'ighly curious,An' we'd all ride 'ome to bed,With Mo'ammed, God, an' ShivaChangin' pickets in our 'ead.Full oft on Guv'ment serviceThis rovin' foot 'ath pressed,An' bore fraternal greetin'sTo the Lodges east an' west,Accordin' as commanded.From Kohat to Singapore,But I wish that I might see themIn my Mother-Lodge once more!I wish that I might see them,My Brethren black an' brown,With the trichies smellin' pleasantAn' the hog-darn passin' down;An' the old khansamah snorin'On the bottle-khana floor,Like a Master in good standingWith my Mother-Lodge once more.Outside - Sergeant! Sir! Salute! Salaam!'Inside- Brother," an' it doesn't do no 'arm.We met upon the Level an' we parted on the Square,An' I was Junior Deacon in my Mother-Lodge out there! First published in the The Pall Mall Gazette and the Pall Mall Budget on May 9th 1895. In the Sussex Edition the poem is dated 1894. ORG No. 634. Rudyard Kipling was initiated into the Lodge of Hope and Perseverance No 782 (founded in 1858 under the English Constitution) at the Masonic Hall, the Jadughar (as described in Kim) in Anarkali, Lahore on 5 April 1886, at the age of twenty. As this was the Lodge into which he was initiated it became his Mother Lodge. A Freemason will always have a particular attachment to the Lodge which saw him enter into Freemasonry, even though he may cease to be a member of that particular Lodge. The poem was written some eight years later, when he was living in Vermont. Charles Carrington in his The Complete Barrack-room Ballads (p.166), reports that it was written in a single day, on October 29th 1894, while Conan Doyle was staying with the Kiplings. It celebrates the equality which reigns among Freemasons without distinction of profession, rank, race or creed and the first two stanzas clearly reflect the diversity of this particular Lodge, underscored by the refrain which contrasts the behaviour displayed in public with that shown inside the Lodge. The use of vernacular with the dropped �h� highlights the wide social rankings of the members." - See "The Mother Lodge" by George Kieffer, 2017