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''A Choice of Kipling's Verse, made by T. S. Eliot, with an essay on Rudyard Kipling'' is a book first published in December 1941 (by
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...
in UK, and by
Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan R ...
in U.S.A.). It is in two parts. The first part is an essay by American-born British poet T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), in which he discusses the nature and stature of British poet
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
(1865-1936). The second part consists of Eliot's selection from Kipling's poems. ''A Choice of Kipling's Verse'' was republished in 1963.


Critical reception

''A Choice of Kipling's Verse'' rapidly attracted critical attention, both supportive and hostile, on both sides of the Atlantic.
W. J. Turner Walter James Redfern Turner (13 October 1884 – 18 November 1946) was an Australian-born, English-domiciled writer and critic.McKenna, C. W. F., (1990). nlineTurner, Walter James Redfern (1884–1946), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', V ...
said that "Mr. Eliot's essay is an admirable example of the finest type of criticism. He succeeds in making us look at his subject's work with freshly opened eyes and he is at once sober, illuminating and sound".
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
naturally took the opportunity to write an extended political essay, which incidentally included his own appraisal of Kipling as man and poet. Orwell condemned Kipling for his
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...
, but defended him from charges of
fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...
which had recently been raised against him. He disliked Kipling's use of the vernacular. He summed up Kipling as a "good bad poet", where a "good bad poem is a graceful monument to the obvious."
Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, togethe ...
believed that Eliot had over-praised Kipling's critical thought. A pseudonymous reviewer in '' New English Weekly'' wrote, "Mr. Eliot offers an important defense of Kipling's imperialism". English poet Norman Nicholson asserted his right as one of the presumed intended audience to comment, and gave his own opinion on Kipling. Marjorie Farber praised Eliot for his "valuable distinction between ballad-makers and poetry-makers", and for his clearing away some of the prejudices against Kipling; but regretted his failure to acknowledge Kipling's "pleasure in hating". Louise Bogan wrote, "It is ..strange to see liotbending the subtle resources of his intelligence in a hopeless cause" (i.e. that of rehabilitating Kipling). William Rose Benét wrote (ambiguously), " liotis not a genius, like Kipling, but his is a subtle and interesting mind".
Lionel Trilling Lionel Mordecai Trilling (July 4, 1905 – November 5, 1975) was an American literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher. He was one of the leading U.S. critics of the 20th century who analyzed the contemporary cultural, social, ...
placed Kipling's book in a larger, political and literary context in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' (in copyright, and not readable online, but readable in his '' The Liberal Imagination''). His summary response: W. H. Auden wrote a two-page review for ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'' (in copyright, and not readable online), which Mildred Martin has summarized as "Little on Eliot, chiefly in praise of Kipling". Carl T. Naumburg called Eliot's choice of poems "a scholarly and intelligently chosen anthology" and "an altogether excellent selection"; and said that "it is obvious that the essay not the anthology is of importance", and that the essay "will always be regarded as a work of outstanding importance in the field of Kiplingiana". In 2008,
Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s with the public ...
described Eliot's essay as "partly, but only partly, an effort at rehabilitation". " s essay turns on a distinction between 'verse'at which Kipling is said to exceland 'poetry,' which, says Eliot, he approaches but rarely and then only by accident." Kimball summarised the essay as "sensitive, intelligent, and a subtle masterpiece of deflation", and also said that "Eliot wants to preserve a place for Kipling, but he also wants to put him in his placenot, we are meant to understand, the same (and higher) place occupied by Eliot himself".


The book


Eliot's essay

Eliot's essay occupies 32 pages, and is dated 26 September 1941. It is divided into two sections. (Numerical superscripts in the following summary refer to page numbers in the 1963 edition.) Eliot doubted whether anyone could make the most of two such different forms of expression as poetry and imaginative prose. He asserted that for Kipling neither form could be judged individually, and that he was the inventor of a mixed form.5 He called Kipling a ballad-maker, someone whose poems could be understood at first hearing, so that his poems had to be defended against the charge of excessive lucidity, not that of obscurity; and against the charge of being jingles.6,9 He singled out "
Danny Deever "Danny Deever" is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling, one of the first of the Barrack-Room Ballads. It received wide critical and popular acclaim, and is often regarded as one of the most significant pieces of Kipling's early verse. The poem, a ba ...
" as remarkable in both technique and content.11-12 He contrasted the dramatic monologues "McAndrew's Hymn" and "The 'Mary Gloster'", which he considered to belong together.13-14 He noted the "important influence of Biblical imagery and the
Authorised Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of ...
language upon ipling'swriting", and suggested that Kipling was both a great
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mill ...
writer and (on the strength of " Recessional") a great
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...
writer.16 Eliot found it impossible to fit Kipling's poems into one or another distinct class. The later poems are more diverse than the early. Neither "development" nor "experimentation" seems the right description. The critical tools which Eliot was accustomed to use did not seem to work.16-17 He said that "most of us" (i.e. poets) were interested in form for its own sake, and with musical structure in poetry, leaving any deeper meaning to emerge from a lower level; in contrast to Kipling, whose poems were designed to elicit the same response from all readers.18 Eliot defended himself against the hypothetical charge that he had been briefed in the cause of some hopelessly second-rate writer. He asserted that Kipling "knew something of the things which are underneath, and of the things which are beyond the frontier". He next said, "I have not explained Kipling's verse nor the permanent effect it can have on you. It will help if I can keep him out of the wrong pigeon-holes".19-20 He then quoted in full one poem, "The Fabulists" (1914-1918),( ws) The dates are those of the
Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
of 1914-18.
which he said showed Kipling's integrity of purpose and which he thought would have more effect in the essay than in the body of the book.21-22 Eliot opened the second part of his essay by restating his original proposition: that Kipling's prose and verse have to be considered together; while calling him "the most inscrutable of authors" and "a writer impossible wholly to understand and quite impossible to believe".22 He wondered whether Kipling's world-view had been shaped by his upbringing in India under the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
- and argued that one of his defining features was his acceptance of all faiths and beliefs, as exemplified in his novel '' Kim''.23-24 He compared Kipling to Dryden, another English writer who put politics into verse: " e two men had much in common. Both were masters of phrase, both employed rather simple rhythms with adroit variations. .. ey were both classical rather than romantic poets".25-26 For both men, wisdom was more important than inspiration, and the world about them than their own feelings. Nevertheless, Eliot did not wish to overstress the likeness, and recognised the differences.26 Kipling thought his verse and prose as both being for a public purpose. Eliot warned against taking Kipling out of his time, and against exaggerating the importance of a particular piece or phrase which a reader might dislike. He considered that Edward Shanks had missed the point when he called the poem "Loot" ( ws) "detestable". In Kipling's military poems, he had tried to describe the soldier (serving or discharged, both unappreciated at home), and not to idealise him. He was exasperated both by sentimentalism and by depreciation and neglect.26-27 Eliot attributed Kipling's development to the time he had spent in India; on travel and in America; and finally settled in Sussex. Kipling had a firm belief in the British Empire and what he thought it should be, while recognising its faults. He was more interested in individuals than in man in the mass. Eliot found Kipling in some way alien, as if from another planet. People who are too clever are distrusted. He compared Kipling with another outsider, the 19th century British politician
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...
.27-28 Kipling had the misfortune of early success, so that critics judged him by his early work and did not revise their opinions to take account of the later.28 He had been called both a
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
(for his content) and a journalist (for his style); in neither case as a compliment. Eliot disagreed, except insofar as those terms could be considered honourable. He dismissed the charge that Kipling believed in racial superiority. Rather, he believed that the British had a natural aptitude to rule and to rule well. He admired people from all races; as can be seen from ''Kim'', which Eliot called "his maturest work on India, and his greatest book". A problem with Kipling was that he expressed unpopular ideas in a popular style. So saying, Eliot concluded his discussion of Kipling's early imperialism. Kipling was not doctrinaire and did not have a programme; for which Eliot rated him favourably over H. G. Wells.29-30 Kipling's middle years are marked by "the development of the imperial imagination into the historical imagination", to which his settling in Sussex must have contributed. He was humble enough to submit to his surroundings, and had the fresh vision of a stranger. There is more than one kind of "historical imagination". One gives life to abstractions, and the larger picture. Another implies a whole civilisation from a single individual. Kipling's imagination was of the second kind.30-31 The historical imagination can convey the vast extent of time, or the nearness of the past, or both. Eliot pointed to ''
Puck of Pook's Hill ''Puck of Pook's Hill'' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of ...
'' and ''
Rewards and Fairies ''Rewards and Fairies'' is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling published in 1910. The title comes from the poem "Farewell, Rewards and Fairies" by Richard Corbet, which was referred to by the children in the first story of Kipling's ...
'' as doing both. Kipling was a different kind of regional writer from
Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...
; and not just in that Kipling was chronicling a
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...
he wished to preserve and Hardy the decay of a
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
he had known from boyhood. Kipling did not write about Sussex because he had run out of foreign and imperial material or because the public demand for it had passed, nor because he was a chameleon who took his colour from his surroundings. He was "discovering and reclaiming a lost inheritance".32-33 The most important thing in Kipling's Sussex stories was his vision of "the people of the soil"; not in a Christian but more in a pagan sense, not as a programme for agrarian reform, but as a counterbalance to materialism and industrialism. Eliot noted the contrast in "The Wish House" (a short story in the 1926 collection '' Debits and Credits'') between its supernatural elements and its sordid realism; he found both it and its two accompanying poems "hard and obscure". Kipling had become more than a mere story teller, and more than the man who had felt it his duty to tell his countrymen things they refused to see. He must have known that his own fame and reputation would get in the way of all but a few people understanding his late parables and the skill with which they were constructed; both in his time and afterwards.33-34 Kipling wrote "verse" rather than "poetry" (two terms which Eliot acknowledged he was using loosely). He handled a wide variety of stanza and metre with perfect competence, but produced no revolution in form. The musical interest of his verse - taken as a whole - is subordinated to its meaning, and that differentiates it from poetry. Doing otherwise would have interfered with his intention. Eliot did not imply a value judgment. Kipling did not write verse because he could not write poetry; he wrote verse because it does something which poetry cannot do. He was a great verse writer. Eliot chose not to name any other famous poets who might be called great verse writers; but declared that Kipling's position in that latter class was not only high but unique.34-36 Eliot concluded by saying that if his essay assisted the reader to approach Kipling with a fresh mind, it would have served its purpose.36


Eliot's selection of poems

Eliot did not attempt to define a critical consensus on the merits of any of Kipling's poems. He chose not to include anything which he considered
juvenilia Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appears as a retrospective publication, some time after the author has become well known for later works. ...
. His selection expresses the personal opinion of one major poet on another, and deserves attention for that reason. The titles in the following list are those used by Eliot. They sometimes differ in minor ways from those chosen by Kipling. Dates are included only where Eliot included them. As superscripts: (ws) links to the text in
Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...
of a poem which has no Wikipedia article; oem/sup> links to a reputable online source for the text of a poem not in Wikisource; (na) means that no reputable source has been found. : ''This list is complete'' *"L'Envoi" ('' Departmental Ditties'') ( ws) *"Dedication" from ''
Barrack-Room Ballads The Barrack-Room Ballads are a series of songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling, dealing with the late-Victorian British Army and mostly written in a vernacular dialect. The series contains some of Kipling's best-known works, including the poems "Gunga ...
'' ( ws) *"Sestina of the Tramp-Royal" (1896) ( ws) A
sestina A sestina (, from ''sesto'', sixth; Old Occitan: ''cledisat'' ; also known as ''sestine'', ''sextine'', ''sextain'') is a fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi. The words that end ...
is a fixed verse form dating from the 12th century. Kipling's "tramp-royal" is a
tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...
or vagrant.
*"The Greek National Anthem" (1918) { ws) A translation of 7 of the 158 stanzas of "
Hymn to Liberty The "Hymn to Liberty", or "Hymn to Freedom" ( el, Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν, also ), is a poem written by Dionysios Solomos in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas and is used as the national anthem of Greece and Cyprus. ...
" (1823) by Dionýsios Solomós.
*"The Broken Men" (1902) ( ws) *"Gethsemane" (1914–18) ( ws) *"The Song of the Banjo" (1894) ( ws) *"The Pro-Consuls" ( ws) *" McAndrew's Hymn" (1893) *" The ''Mary Gloster''" (1894) *"The Ballad of the 'Bolivar'" (1890) ( ws) ''Bolivar'' is a fictional ship, perhaps named after
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
''El Libertador''.
*" A Song in Storm" (1914–18) *"The Last Chantey" (1892) ( ws) A
chantey A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a specific s ...
is a sailors' work song.
*"The Long Trail" *"Ave Imperatrix!" ( ws) "Ave Imperatrix!" is Latin for "Hail, Empress!"; in context, Victoria, Queen and Empress. *"A Song of the English" (1893) ( ws) *"The Gipsy Trail" ( ws) *"Our Lady of the Snows" (1897) ( ws) " Our Lady of the Snows" is a title of the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, but its meaning in this poem is for the reader to decide.
*"The Irish Guards" (1918) ( ws) The
Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...
were, and are, a regiment of foot guards in the British Army.
*"The Settler" (1903) ( ws) *"Sussex" (1902) ( ws) Kipling's poem "Sussex" was, allegedly, the inspiration for the song "
Sussex by the Sea "Sussex by the Sea" (also known as "A Horse Galloping") is a song written in 1907 by William Ward-Higgs, often considered to be the unofficial county anthem of Sussex. It became well known throughout Sussex and is regularly sung at celebrations t ...
".
*"The Vampire" (1897) ( ws) *"When Earth's Last Picture Is Painted" (1892) ( ws) *" The Ballad of East and West" (1889) *"Gehazi" (1915) ( ws) *"Et Dona Ferentes" (1896) ( ws) ""Et Dona Ferentes" is from the proverbial phrase
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes ''Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes'', paraphrased in English as "I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts", is a Latin phrase from ''Aeneid,'' a Latin epic poem written by Virgil. The phrase is spoken by Trojan priest Laocoön referring to the Trojan ...
("Beware of Greeks bearing gifts"), and alludes to the
Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...
.
*"The Holy War" (1917) "The Holy War" is preceded by a quotation from ''
The Holy War ''The Holy War Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, to Regain the Metropolis of the World, Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul'' is a 1682 novel by John Bunyan. This early modern English novel, written in the form of an alleg ...
'' by
John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
(1628-1688); and is, at least on its surface, about him.
*"France" (1913) *" The Bell Buoy" (1896) *"Mesopotamia" (1917)
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
was a historical region situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in modern days roughly corresponding to most of Iraq plus Kuwait, the eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.
*"The Islanders" (1902) ( ws) *"The Veterans" *"The Dykes" (1902) ( ws) A dyke is an earthen defence against waters; see
levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastli ...
.
*"
The White Man's Burden "The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country.Hitchens, Christopher. ''Bl ...
" (1899) *"Hymn Before Action" (1896) ( ws) *" Recessional" (1897) *"'For All We Have and Are'" (1914) ( ws) *"The Benefactors" ( ws) *"The Craftsman" *"Samuel Pepys" (1933) (na)
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
(1633-1703), famous not only as a diarist but also for his part in turning the Royal Navy into a professional fighting organisation.
*"'When 'Omer Smote 'Is Bloomin' Lyre'" 'Omer is the ancient Greek epic poet
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
. " Bloomin'" is a euphemism for the British expletive intensifier "
bloody ''Bloody'', as an adjective or adverb, is a commonly used expletive attributive in British English, Australian English, Irish English, Indian English and a number of other Commonwealth nations. It has been used as an intensive since at lea ...
". A
lyre The lyre () is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it ...
is a string instrument something like a small harp, dating back to at least Greek antiquity.
*"Tomlinson" (1891) ( ws) *"The Last Rhyme of True Thomas" (1893) ( ws) "True Thomas" is
Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...
.
*"The Sons of Martha" (1907) ( ws) In Christian tradition, Martha is a symbol of the active, and her sister Mary of the contemplative, life. See Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary. *"Epitaphs of the War" (1914–18) ( ws) *"'Bobs'" (1898) ( ws) "Bobs" was an affectionate nickname for
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Iri ...
(1832-1914). He had been a successful army officer in British India, and in 1895 was made Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Ireland. In 1897, he had published his memoirs, ''Forty-one Years in India: from Subaltern to Commander-in-chief''. In 1899 (i.e. after the date of the poem), he was given overall command of the British forces in South Africa during the Second Boer War.
*"
Danny Deever "Danny Deever" is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling, one of the first of the Barrack-Room Ballads. It received wide critical and popular acclaim, and is often regarded as one of the most significant pieces of Kipling's early verse. The poem, a ba ...
" *" Tommy" *"'
Fuzzy-Wuzzy "Fuzzy-Wuzzy" is a poem by the English author and poet Rudyard Kipling, published in 1892 as part of ''Barrack Room Ballads''. It describes the respect of the ordinary British soldier for the bravery of the Hadendoa warriors who fought the Briti ...
'" *"Screw-Guns" ( ws) "Screw-gun" was a nickname of the
RML 2.5-inch Mountain Gun The Ordnance RML 2.5-inch mountain gun was a British rifled muzzle-loading mountain gun of the late 19th century designed to be broken down into four loads for carrying by man or mule. It was primarily used by the Indian Army. History It was i ...
, which could be broken down into four parts for easier transport in rough country.
*"
Gunga Din "Gunga Din" () is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling set in British India. The poem is much remembered for its final line: "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din". Background The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a Briti ...
" *"
The Widow at Windsor The Barrack-Room Ballads are a series of songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling, dealing with the late-Victorian British Army and mostly written in a vernacular dialect. The series contains some of Kipling's best-known works, including the poems "Gung ...
" *"Belts" ( ws) "Belts" is about the use of
belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practiti ...
s as impromptu weapons in hand-to-hand fighting, especially during inter-unit military brawls.
*"The Young British Soldier" ( ws) *"
Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fou ...
" *"Troopin'" ( ws) *"The Widow's Party" ( ws) "The Widow" was
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
.
*"
Gentlemen-Rankers In the British Army, a gentleman ranker is an enlisted soldier suited through education and social background to be a commissioned officer, or indeed a former commissioned officer. Rudyard Kipling titled one of his poems, published 1892, " Gentl ...
" *"Private Ortheris's Song" ( ws, "My girl she gave me the go onst") For Private Ortheris, see
Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris Rudyard Kipling introduces, in the story '' The Three Musketeers'' (1888) three characters who were to reappear in many stories, and to give their name to his next collection ''Soldiers Three''. Their characters are given in the sentence that fo ...
.
*"Shillin' a Day" ( ws) *"'Back to the Army Again'" ( ws) *"'Birds of Prey' March" ( ws) *"'Soldier an' Sailor Too'" ( ws) A "soldier and sailor too" is a
Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
.
*"Sappers" ( ws) A "sapper" is a soldier in the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...
.
*"That Day" ( ws) *"'The Men that Fought at Minden'" ( ws)
Battle of Minden The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of Fr ...
(1759), during the Seven Years' War, in which an Anglo-German army decisively defeated a French army .
*"The Ladies" ( ws) *"'Follow Me 'Ome'" ( ws) *"The Sergeant's Weddin'" ( ws) *"The 'Eathen" ( ws) *"'For to Admire'" ( ws) *" The Absent-Minded Beggar" *"Chant-Pagan" ( ws) *" Boots" *"The Married Man" ( ws) *"Stellenbosch" ( ws)
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...
is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. During the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...
(1899-1902), it was a British military base. Officers who had failed to distinguish themselves in battle were posted there.
*"Piet" ( ws) "Piet" was a British nickname for a Boer soldier, from the common Afrikaans
given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...
.
*" Ubique" *"The Return" ( ws) *"Cities and Thrones and Powers" ( ws) *"The Recall" ( ws) *" Puck's Song" *"The Way Through the Woods" ( ws) *" A Three-Part Song" *"The Run of the Downs" The
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...
and
South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...
are rolling chalk hills in southeastern England.
*" Sir Richard's Song (A.D. 1066)" *" A Tree Song (A.D. 1200)" *"A Charm" ( ws) *"Chapter Headings" The "Chapter Headings" are the introductory verses to some of the short stories in Kipling's 1888 collection ''
Plain Tales from the Hills ''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the ''Civil and Military Gaz ...
''.( ws)
*"Cold Iron" ( ws) *"'My New-Cut Ashlar'"
Ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
is finely dressed masonry.
*"Non Nobis Domine!" " Non nobis Domine" ("Not unto us, O Lord") is a mediaeval Latin hymn used as a prayer of thanksgiving and expression of humility. *"The Waster" (1930) *" Harp Song of the Dane Women" *"A St. Helena Lullaby" After
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
's final defeat in 1815, he was exiled to the British-controlled island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic; where, in 1821, he died.
*"Road Song of the ''Bandar-Log''" ( ws) The
Bandar-log Bandar-log ( hi, बन्दर-लोग) is a term used in Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) to describe the monkeys of the Seeonee jungle. Description In Hindi, ''Bandar'' means "monkey" and ''log'' means "people" – hence the te ...
are a tribe of monkeys in Kipling's ''
The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...
''.
*" A British-Roman Song (A.D. 406)" *" A Pict Song" *"
The Law of the Jungle "The law of the jungle" (also called jungle law) is an expression that has come to describe a scenario where "anything goes". The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' defines the Law of the Jungle as "''the code of survival in jungle life'', now usua ...
" *"MacDonough's Song" ( ws) *"The Heritage" ( ws) *" Song of the Fifth River" *"The Children's Song" ( ws) *" If—" *"A Translation" The translation is (according to Kipling) of Book V, Ode 3 by the Roman poet
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
. Both Kipling and Eliot may, if not must, have known that Horace wrote only four books of odes.
*"The Land" *"The Queen's Men" *" Mine Sweepers" (1914–18) *"The Love Song of Har Dyal" ( ws) Har Dyal is a character in the short story "Beyond the Pale" in Kipling's 1888 collection ''
Plain Tales from the Hills ''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the ''Civil and Military Gaz ...
''.
*"Mowgli's Song Against People" ( ws)
Mowgli Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" (c ...
is the fictional protagonist of Kipling's ''
The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...
'' stories.
*"'The Trade'" (1914–18) *" The Runes on Weland's Sword" (1906) *"Song of the Galley-Slaves" *"The Roman Centurion's Song" ( ws) *" Dane-Geld (A.D. 980-1016)" *"Norman and Saxon (A.D. 1100)" *"Edgehill Fight" The
Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between ...
(1642) was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was indecisive.
*"The Dutch in the Medway (1664-72)" The navigable part of the
River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance ...
flows through the English county of Kent and empties into the Thames Estuary. It was once an important depot of the Royal Navy. It was successfully raided in 1667 by the Dutch fleet under Admiral
Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...
.
*"The Secret of the Machines" ( ws) *"Gertrude's Prayer" "Gertrude's Prayer" is from the short story "Dayspring Mishandled" in Kipling's 1932 collection '' Limits and Renewals''. *" The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919) *"The Storm Cone" (1932) *"The Appeal"


Notes


Poems


References

* The source used to locate, and to quote from, several of the early reviews of ''A Choice of Kipling's Verse'' cited in this article.


Further reading

* Selected passages from Eliot's essay. {{DEFAULTSORT:Choice of Kipling's verse 1941 poetry books Rudyard Kipling Works by T. S. Eliot British poetry collections