"A Death-Bed" is a poem by English poet and writer

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). It was first published in April 1919, in the collection '' The Years Between''. Later publications identified the year of writing as 1918. Kipling's only son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, had been reported

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

in 1915, during the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

, leaving him grief-stricken. "A Death-Bed" has been variously described as "the most savage poem Kipling ever wrote", "the chilling and pitiless masterpiece" and as "overtly distasteful".

Structure

"A Death-Bed" consists of 10 ABAB quatrains, with four stresses per line. It interweaves three voices: # In quotation marks: an

absolute monarch Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism (European history), Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute pow ...

, suffering from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

. # In italics: a group of doctors attending the dying ruler. # In plain text: a commentator.

Content

The dying patient vehemently asserts his absolute power, while blaming others for starting

World War I 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 ...

. The doctors, consulting between themselves with detached professionalism, discuss his condition and recommend

opiates An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonist ...

; because it is too late for surgery. The commentator lists a succession of wartime horrors for which

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

has implied responsibility, beginning each passage with "Some die ....". Most are non-specific, but the line "Some die saintly in faith and hope— / One died thus in a prison-yard—"page 286 "A Death-Bed" 1918, Rudyard Kipling's Verse Definitive Edition, Hodder and Stoughton Ltd London, 1960 apparently refers to the executed British nurse

Edith Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Be ...

(1865-1915). In the last line a doctor addresses the monarch as "All-Highest", a supposed title of the German Emperor: it is therefore Kaiser Wilhelm, who had been reported (incorrectly) to be suffering from the throat cancer which had killed his father, Kaiser Frederick. Depersonalised throughout the poem by being referred to as "this", the Kaiser dies unable to speak but begging for assurance with his eyes.

References

External links

* Poetry by Rudyard Kipling 1918 poems World War I poems {{UK-poem-stub