A Servant When He Reigneth - Words by Rudyard Kipling, Arrangement by Leslie Fish

Three things make the earth unquiet, four she cannot brook
The godly augur counted them and put them in a book
Those four tremendous curses with which mankind is cursed
But a servant when he reigneth, old augur entered first

A handmaid that is mistress we need not call upon
A fool when he is full of meat will fall asleep anon
An odious woman married may bear a babe and mend
But a servant when he reigneth is confusion to the end

His feet are swift to tumult, his hands are slow to toil
His ears are deaf to reason, his lips are loud and roiled
He knows no use for power except to show his might
He gives no heed to judgment, unless it prove him right

Because he served a master before his kingship came
He hid in all disaster behind his master’s name
So when his folly opens the unnecessary hells
A servant when he reigneth, throws the blame on someone else

His vows are lightly spoken, his faith is hard to bind
His trust is easy broken, he fears his fellow kind
The nearest mob will move him to break the pledge he gave
Oh a servant when he reigneth is more than ever a slave
Aye a servant when he reigneth is more than ever a slave