We're poor little lambs who've lost our way, Baa! Baa! Baa! We're little black sheep who've gone astray, Baa - aa - aa! Gentlemen-rankers out on the spree, Damned from here to Eternity, God ha' mercy on such as we, Baa! Yah! Bah!
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Kipling depicts soldiers as lost and damned lambs, seeking mercy from God while acknowledging their sinful behavior.
- In plain terms
- We are lost and bad soldiers asking God to be kind to us.
- What can you take from it?
- Even lost and sinful people seek divine mercy in desperate times.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where do you turn when you feel lost?
- Can the sinful still find mercy?
Another view
It portrays soldiers as irredeemable without offering a path to reform.
More from Rudyard Kipling
To the legion of the lost ones, to the cohort of the damned, To my brethren in their sorrow overseas, Sings a gentleman of England cleanly bred, machinely cram…
Permalink to quote #35 We have done with Hope and Honour, we are lost to Love and Truth, We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung, And the measure of our torment is the measure o…
Permalink to quote #37 Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, Where there aren't no Ten Commandments, an' a man can raise a thirst.
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