I love this poem.
The only thing that this analysis seems to lack (IMNSHO) is the easy quotation of Scripture which comes naturally to both Kipling AND the producers of the copybook. “The Wages of Sin” is from Romans 6, and in the poem “The dog returns to his vomit and the sow to the mire” is from 2 Peter 2.
There was a time when both British and American English were peppered with Scripture so liberally that it was often hard to distinguish between quotations and innate wisdom.
This continued up till only recently, as even in the beat poetry of the 50’s and Dylan’s long, rambling songs of the 60’s, one can easily pick out large amounts of Bible quotes.
I think texting, tweeting, and emoticons have brought our language to complete destruction and thus, total control by the “Powers That Be”. If one can’t say it in 167 characters, then it is not worth saying!
Word!
And Peter, in turn, was quoting Proverbs ... (gotta look it up) ... Proverbs 26:11