The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God
J. Milton Hayes
1893 to 1940
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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But the green eye of the little Yellow God.
And the Colonel's daughter smiled on him as well.
Of a waltz tune softly stealing thro' the gloom.
An ugly knife lay buried in the heart of Mad Carew,
Then went out into the night beneath the stars.
He woke at last and asked if they could send his tunic through;
But she wouldn't take the stone and Mad Carew was left alone
And she found the little green eye of the god.
With the jewel that he'd chanced his life to get.
He wrote to ask what present she would like from Mad Carew;
He had loved her all along, with a passion of the strong,
She brought it, and he thanked her with a nod;
And a gash across his temple dripping red;
And the Colonel's daughter watched beside his bed.
There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
He was patched up right away, and he slept through all the day,
There's a little marble cross below the town;
His door was open wide, with silver moonlight shining through;
There's a little marble cross below the town;
To celebrate her birthday with a ball.
When the ball was at its height, on that still and tropic night,
There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
And they chaffed him as they puffed at their cigars:
She was nearly twenty-one and arrangements had begun
There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
'Twas the "Vengeance of the Little Yellow God."
Though both her eyes were strangely hot and wet;
But for once he failed to smile, and he sat alone awhile,
As she crossed the barrack square she could hear the dreamy air
And jestingly she told him then that nothing else would do
There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
They met next day as he dismissed a squad;
She upbraided poor Carew in the way that women do,
The place was wet and slipp'ry where she trod;
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.
He was known as "Mad Carew" by the subs at Khatmandu,
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.
He bade her search the pocket saying "That's from Mad Carew,"
On the night before the dance, Mad Carew seemed in a trance,
But for all his foolish pranks, he was worshipped in the ranks,
The fact that she loved him was plain to all.
He was hotter than they felt inclined to tell;
He returned before the dawn, with his shirt and tunic torn,
She thought of him and hurried to his room;