THE SECRET OF THE MACHINES

We were taken from the ore – bed and the mine,

We were melted in the furnace and the pit –
We were cast and wrought and hammered to design,
We were cut and filed and tooled and gauged to fit.
Some water, coal, and oil is all we ask,
And a thousandth of an inch to us play:
And now if you will set us to our task,
We will serve you four and twenty hours a day!

We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive,
We can print and plough and weave and heat and light,
We can run and jump and swim and fly and dive,
We can see and hear and count and read and write!

Would you call a friend from half across the world?

If you’ll let us have his name and town and state,
You shall see and hear your crackling question hurled
Across the arch of heaven while you wait.
Has he answered? Does he need you at his side?
You can start this very evening if you choose,
And take the Western Ocean in the stride
Of seventy thousand horses and some screw!

The boat – express is waiting your command!

You will find the Mauretania at the quay,
Till her captain turns the lever ‘neath his hand,
And the monstrous nice – decked city goes to sea.

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Do you wish to make the mountains bare their head
And lay their new – cut forests at your feet?
Do you want to turn a river in its bed,
Or plant a barren wilderness with wheat?
Shall we pipe aloft and bring you water down
From the never – failing cisterns of the snows,
To work the mills and tramways in your town,
And irrigate your orchards as it flows?

It is easy! Give us dynamite and drills!

Watch the iron – shouldered rocks lie down and quake
As the thirsty desert – level floods and fills,
And the valley we have dammed becomes a lake!

But remember, please, the Law by which we live,

We are not built to comprehend a lie,
We can neither love nor pity, nor forgive.
If you make a slip in handling us you die!
We are greater than the Peoples or the Kings –
Be humble, as you crawl beneath our rods!
Our touch can alter all created things,
We are everything on earth – except the Gods!

Though our smoke may hide the Heavens from your eyes,
It will vanish and the stars will shine again,
Because, for all our power and weight and size,
We are nothing more than children of your brain!

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 Rudyard Kipling

I. Glossary.
1. ore – bed – place in earth where minerals are found
2. furnace – hot fireplace to melt metal
3. wrought – beaten and shaped
4. gauged – measured exactly
5. give us play – give space to move
6. horse – horsepower
7. boat – expresses – train carrying passengers to seashore
8. Mauretania – name of a large ocean liner
9. quay – landing place for loading ships
10. nine – decked city – (here) very large ship
11. wilderness – empty spaces
12. aloft – upwards
13. cisterns – tanks for storing water

II. Answer the following questions.

1. The poem highlights many things that machines can do for us. Mentions four
tasks which machines can perform for humans.
Ans: They can pull and haul and push and lift and drive; print and plough and
weave and create heat and light. They can also count, read and write.
2. Compare the last two stanzas of the poem. What difference do you see in the
attitude of the machines towards humans?
Ans: Initially, the machines sound imperious and almost contemptuous of
humans. They claim they are greater than the people or the kings and ask the
humans to be humble before them. They convey how human emotions and
judgment mean nothing to them. They are all powerful on earth, except the gods.
But in the last stanza, the machines acknowledge that they are nothing but the
creation of the human brain and without its assistance, all their might is useless.
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3. Is this poem a warning to humans or does it highlight the superior power of
humans? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Ans: The poem is a highlight of human superiority. The poet tells us that no
matter how many difficult tasks the machines do, they will always be controlled
and created by humans. The following lines from the poem support this answer:
‘We are not built to comprehend a lie,
We can neither love nor pity, nor forgive.
If you make a slip in handling us you die!’
‘for all our power and weight and size,
We are nothing more than children of your brain!’
4. Poems make use of imagery to appeal to the reader’s sense of sight, hearing,
touch etc. Images make poetry powerful. Given below are two examples of
images from the poem. Read the poem again and find other examples of imagery
in it. Fill in the table accordingly.
Visual Images Aural Images
iron ore being dug out of a mine iron being hammered
being melted in the furnace and the pit being hammered to design
being cut and filed and tooled and hearing the crackling sound on the
gauged to fit phone
pulling, hauling, pushing, lifting, dynamite and drills
running, jumping, swimming, flying
and diving
the boat express waiting, the nine – crackling question hurled across the
decked city going to sea arch of heaven
mountains baring their heads
water coming down from the
snowcapped mountains
rocks quaking

III. Extra Questions.

1. What is the ‘nine – decked city’? How has it been referred to by the poet?
Ans: The ‘nine – decked city’ is a large ocean liner. It has been referred to as
Mauretania by the poet.
2. Based on your understanding of the poem, explain what actions the machines
are incapable of doing and why?
Ans: The machines cannot comprehend a lie. Neither do they know how to love,
show pity or to forgive. The machines are incapable of doing these as they are
created and built by humans to perform specific tasks.
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3. Do you think humans are being warned by machines in this poem? Explain.
Ans: Yes, the humans are being warned by machines in this poem as humans
have grown to become extensively dependent on machines for their everyday
activities. Humans are also warned as machines are used in altering nature.