Boots Flashcards
by Rudyard Kipling — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Boots
What war is the speaker marching through in 'Boots'?
The Second Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa, referenced by the opening line 'sloggin' over Africa.'
What activity does the speaker describe throughout the poem?
An endless infantry march, counting off miles day after day with no rest or relief in sight.
What does the speaker say happens to men who watch the boots?
They go mad -- 'Men, men, men, men, men go mad with watchin' em.'
How does the speaker describe nighttime versus daytime marching?
Daytime is bearable because of company, but night brings hallucinations of 'forty thousand million' boots marching endlessly.
What does the speaker say Hell actually is in the final stanza?
Not fire, devils, or darkness, but boots moving up and down again -- the endless, maddening rhythm of marching.
How long does the speaker say he has been marching?
Six weeks, which he describes as six weeks marched in Hell.
What does the speaker desperately try to do in the fourth stanza?
Think of something different to distract himself, even praying to God to keep him from going insane.
Who is the speaker of 'Boots'?
An unnamed British infantry soldier, identifiable by his working-class dialect and firsthand account of the march.
What is the speaker's psychological state by the end of the poem?
He is on the verge of madness, having concluded that the monotony of marching boots is worse than any vision of Hell.
What do the other soldiers ('men, men, men') represent in the poem?
They show that the psychological breakdown is universal among the troops -- it is not one soldier's weakness but a shared suffering.
Why does the speaker say soldiers can endure hunger, thirst, and weariness but not the boots?
Physical hardships have limits, but the chronic, unrelenting visual and auditory monotony of marching boots attacks the mind in a way the body cannot adapt to.
How does repetition in 'Boots' reinforce the poem's central theme?
The relentless repetition of 'boots, boots, boots, boots' mimics the maddening monotony of the march itself, making the reader feel the speaker's mental strain.
What does the poem suggest about the psychological toll of war versus the physical toll?
It argues that mental torment -- monotony, helplessness, sensory repetition -- is far worse than physical suffering like hunger or thirst.
How does 'Boots' portray the dehumanization of soldiers?
Soldiers are reduced to marching machines, their identities stripped away until they are nothing but feet moving in boots -- interchangeable, voiceless, and trapped.
What does the theme of entrapment look like in the poem?
The refrain 'there's no discharge in the war' makes clear there is no escape -- no rest, no relief, no end to the marching until the war itself ends.
What is the effect of the comma-separated monosyllables (e.g., 'Don't, don't, don't, don't')?
They force a staccato reading rhythm that imitates the relentless, metronomic beat of boots hitting the ground.
What type of poem is 'Boots' -- lyric, narrative, or dramatic monologue?
A dramatic monologue: a single soldier speaks directly, revealing his psychological state through his own words and dialect.
Why does Kipling write the poem in working-class dialect (e.g., 'sloggin'', ''unger', 'taint')?
The dialect gives authentic voice to an ordinary enlisted soldier, grounding the poem in the lived experience of the rank and file rather than officers or observers.
What is the effect of the hyperbole 'forty thousand million boots' in the seventh stanza?
It conveys the speaker's hallucinatory state at night, where the sound of boots multiplies in his mind into an infinite, overwhelming nightmare.
What literary device is at work in the final stanza's redefinition of Hell?
Ironic subversion -- the speaker rejects the traditional fire-and-brimstone Hell in favor of something more terrifying: endless, meaningless repetition.
What does the word 'discharge' mean in the refrain 'there's no discharge in the war'?
Release from military service. The line means soldiers cannot leave or be relieved -- they must keep marching until the war ends.
What are 'bandoliers' as mentioned in the fifth stanza?
Belts worn across the chest that hold ammunition cartridges, carried by soldiers on the march.
What does 'sloggin'' mean in the context of the opening line?
Trudging or plodding with heavy, exhausting effort -- emphasizing the grueling physical labor of the infantry march.
What line serves as the poem's refrain, and what does it emphasize?
'There's no discharge in the war!' -- it hammers home that there is no escape, no relief, and no end to the suffering.
What is the significance of the line 'Oh, my, God, keep, me from goin' lunatic!'?
It is the poem's most raw emotional moment -- a direct prayer that reveals the speaker is genuinely terrified of losing his sanity.
What do the final two lines -- 'But boots, boots, boots, boots, movin' up an' down again, / An' there's no discharge in the war!' -- accomplish?
They close the poem by collapsing Hell itself into the sound of marching, leaving the reader with no resolution -- just the same inescapable rhythm.