Rudyard Kipling in 1926
Rudyard Kipling did not make it onto my list of top ten novelists in the English language. He is, however, my very favorite English poet. I have a copy of his complete verse that I received as a present when I was a child, and it is very well thumbed through. For every occasion in life, there is a Kipling poem to match. His poems are deep, but not obscure. What he says, he says plainly. He doesn’t sugar coat, and he doesn’t talk down, and he has a fine dry humor. He allows us to see humans and other animals as heroic beings, without bending the truth, or hiding the role of death, struggle and conflict.Besides that, he has a remarkable breadth in the topics he covers, and the different points of view he adopts.
Take, “The Law of the Jungle”, which is recited in the video clip below. Is it about wolves? Is it about men? Does it support socialism? Imperialism? Free trade? Or is it really about how things work in the natural world? Listen and decide for yourself!
Kipling reading “The Law of the Jungle”
Kipling was very popular at one time. He was the first Englishman to win a Nobel Prize in literature. Think about it! Could someone who writes this well win the Nobel Prize today? He was offered the position of poet laureate, but he turned it down. He was offered a knighthood, but declined it.
Today, many dislike Kipling. Some accuse him of jingoism, racism and social Darwinism. (The people who accuse him of this are usually on the left.) Others charge him with godlessness and moral relativism. (Those people are members of the right wing.) Is there any truth to these accusations? Well, kind of. There’s a grain of truth behind each charge, but I think they are all wrong.
Kipling is the one writer who can tell us that man and wolf are brother, and at the same time, make it perfectly clear that they are also natural enemies. He sees what is noble in different cultures and ways of life, but he also recognizes that there are conflicts of interest between and among peoples that can only be settled on the field of battle. He can write from the point of view of an imperialist and also speak for those who rebel against empire. Did you know that his words in “A Pict’s Song” were put to music by Leslie Fish and are being sung by anarchists the world over at science fiction conventions?
Kipling’s poetry is easy to set to music. That’s because it’s metrical.. This is no longer popular, at least not among the Literati. The word “poetry” has been redefined in the past century to mean… well, I’m not sure what it means to those who use it differently from me. I know that many children have grown up during the past fifty years or so for whom the word “poetry” means a semantically incoherent piece of literature that is really hard to understand and has no particular formal requirements. You have to study “poetry” in certain classes. If you admit that you don’t like it, you get a bad grade, so you have to write papers in which you praise it. Those who find really creative ways to praise it get extra points, like the courtiers in Nero’s time.
But Kipling’s poetry is not like that. Which is why, sometimes, if you quote him, someone will say: “That’s not poetry; that’s doggerel.” Because the word “poetry” has been co-opted to mean something else, it’s sometimes safer just to use “verse”. Verse is metrical. Verse can rhyme.
In addition to his most serious and profound works, Kipling also wrote light verse. As a child, I enjoyed his “Departmental Ditties.” One of my favorites was called “My Rival”, and I used to recite it all the time when I was twelve. I kept on reciting it even when I was seventeen. Now that I am forty-nine, it has a special meaning. I created the animation below to see how well the meter came out when a computer voice recites the poem.
At first, I was surprised at how well the meter was preserved, when the computerized voice read the poem. I had trouble making the intonation come out right. There are certain spots where the emphasis is on the wrong word, because the intonational contours for the sentence are wrong. But the meter is spot on perfect! Why? Because meter is objective. If you know how to pronounce the multisyllabic words in a line, then the meter will come out right every time!
In the days when people still enjoyed reciting poetry as a form of recreational activity, one of the favorites among the Kipling canon was “If”.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of “If”. It seems too political to me. “If all men count with you, but none too much.” I hate that. That means you can’t love anybody! You can’t express a preference. You can’t have friends.
Recently, I discovered Paraglider’s excellent parody of “If” that deals with political correctness. I doubt seriously that Kipling actually followed the dictates of “If”. If he had, would he have made so many enemies? Would his writings have inspired such strong reactions?
What did Kipling believe? Is it true that he was godless? Well, no, not exactly. He wrote in praise of many different gods, accepting each on his or her own terms. He could write equally well about “Jehovah of the Thunders” as about Thor. He knew all about Buddhism. He knew about Islam. Name a religion, and it was probably featured in one of his poems — in a respectful way that showed it in the best possible light. He could write about (religious) disillusionment, too. His poem “Rimmon” can be read by different people and understood differently, but it spells out a universal truth.
When I see some of the discussions nowadays between creationists and evolutionary theorists in public forums, I am reminded of Tomlinson. So often, the people on both sides of the argument are simply repeating something that they read in a book, and they have no thoughts of their own to speak of. The religionists have never seen a god or experienced a miracle, and the evolutionists don’t seem to have conducted any research of their own. Both sides lack conviction, because they are repeating canned bromides.
Kipling was different. He had real opinions, and what he felt, he felt deeply. Did he have faith? Yes, I think so. His is a dark optimism. He didn’t think everything was going to be okay because someone would come and save us. He didn’t think we could avoid failure, suffering, pain and death. But he did believe that life would renew itself and there would always be a future. What did he believe in? Listen to the words of “Hymn to Breaking Strain” sung by Julia Ecklar and Leslie Fish in the clip below. Decide for yourself!
Tomlinson
(c) 2009 Aya Katz
Books by Rudyard Kipling
Books by Aya Katz
Comments 39 comments
ledefensetech 2 years ago from Cape Girardeau, MOLevel 1 Commenter
Kipling is very popular among the military today. You’d be surprised at the number of senior and flag level officers, NCO’s and command NCO’s that know of Kipling.
Ah yes, near and dear to the hears of our boys are “Tommy”, “Hymn Before Action”, and my personal favorite, “Sons of Martha”.
Our current leaders would do well to read “Tommy”, for you bet that Tommy sees.
maven101 2 years ago from Northern ArizonaLevel 3 Commenter
You certainly know your Kipling…much more than my spontaneous delving into his writings…” If ” was the first poem my father made me memorize…It has become a family tradition to quote this poem at our graduation parties…
You mentioned your hatred of his line ” If all men count with you, but none too much “. I consider this excellent advise. Retaining one’s perspective is always preferable to blindly following a personality. So much less the pain and disappointment when deceived or abandoned…Thank you for this..I always enjoy your well researched and interesting Hubs…Larry
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Ledefensetech, I wasn’t aware that people in the U.S. military still read Kipling. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. (You are talking about the U.S. military, right?) Maybe there is still hope. They should also read “The Last of the Light Brigade.”
Maybe if we could unite the military Kipling fans with the anarchist Kipling fans, we could get a majority. …But that’s a long shot!
ledefensetech 2 years ago from Cape Girardeau, MOLevel 1 Commenter
Oh no, the British military are fanatics about Kipling too.
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/18-EyeoftheStor
In the Afterword, Ringo, who introduced me to Kipling, discusses the affection that Kipling holds to those who wear the uniform.
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Maven101, thanks! As for that line “if all men count with you , but none too much”: I don’t think that admiration and loyalty and love and friendship should be discarded in favor of an equal regard for all, especially not in our personal lives. I rather prefer this line: “If you only stand by your master, the gods will stand by you!” (From “Song of the Red War Boat”.)
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Ledefenstech, I figured the British military is still keen on Kipling. But I take it you meant the U.S. military as well?
Jerilee Wei 2 years ago from United StatesLevel 2 Commenter
Brillant! Made my morning hub reading such a pleasure.
Hadn’t thought of Kipling in years. Sometimes think poetry is an endangered species, as far as schools are concerned. Don’t see it being presented in schools today as much more than a sad after-thought, like they only include it because at some level they think they have to. Couldn’t help but wonder how many American kids would even know the name Rudyard Kipling?
I would have loved to have heard you recite My Rival at age twelve. It was a favorite of one of my children’s great grandmothers.=
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Thanks, Jerilee! Kipling can be neglected for a while in our lives, but if ever he made an impression, he is never forgotten. I only recently realized what a really big influence he has had on me. For years, I sort took his presence in my life for granted.
I think one of the reasons poetry has fallen into disuse is that the literary establishment has been trying to pass other things off as poetry. Those other things are not of much interest to ordinary people — or anyone besides the authors themselves. They are easy to write, but hard to listen to. Real poetry is just the opposite — very demanding of the poet, but a pleasure for the hearer.
Amazing that you know what one of the favorite poems of one of your children’s great grandmothers was!
Jerilee Wei 2 years ago from United StatesLevel 2 Commenter
The closest Kaela’s teacher is coming to poetry this year is assigning the book, Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse. It is entirely made up of free verse poems to tell the Depression era story.
Faye lived until my children were 7 and 9 years old so I had the joy of talking to her for several hours every day. She was a great lover of poetry, born in 1895 in Louisiana, MO I don’t think there was a day in her adult life that she did not include Walt Whitman and others.
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Jerilee, I’m not familiar with “Out of the Dust.” I may have to look it up, if it covers the great depression really well. Does it talk about what happened to gold under FDR? Sometimes coverage of a historical topic is so slanted in school books.
A good place to start children on poetry is to leaf through the Untermeyer anthologies, where everyone is sure to find one or two favorites, and then they can go on to look into the complete works of poets they like best.
http://books.google.com/books?id=wGdJAAAAIAAJ&dq=U
It’s remarkable that your children’s family history is so well documented, and that they got to know so many of their ancestors personally. I never had great grandparents, and my last remaining grandmother died when Sword was five.
Ef El Light 2 years ago from New York State
As Kipling’s style is fairly inconsonant with mine in compactness and rhythm, I have not studied him assiduously.
But now, because of your hub, I think it may be to my advantage that I do.
It is hard to find an English department that is not tainted with the most incongruous irrationality.
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
F.L. Light, thanks for your comment. Kipling is well worth reading, and his poetic works are available online.
I think that one of the problems with English departments is that there are no technical standards for entry. If every professor had to demonstrate a certain mastery of metrical forms, then I think we might be able to winnow out some of the worst. But as things currently stand, most of them couldn’t even pen a Limerick to save their lives!
Ef El Light 2 years ago from New York State
Distinguishing unlikenesses between
Ef El and Kipling, judge my craft more keen!
maven101 2 years ago from Northern ArizonaLevel 3 Commenter
Aya…In response to your comment re ” If all men count with you, but none too much “, I should think its assumed that he understands that in real life some count for more than others, and his point being to maintain perspective, some less, some more so… considering Kipling’s dreadful childhood I can understand his reluctance to fully commit to anyone …I must also mention my favorite Kipling short story ” The Legs of Sister Ursula “, whose legs appear only in the provocative title…Larry
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Ef El, your couplet scans quite well, I’m sure!
But Rudyard’s work has also got allure!
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Maven101, the thing is, I know people who live by that maxim, and they are politicians every one! They make you feel that they really like you, but in fact they like everyone, which is exactly the same as liking no one! Liking implies preference.
I don’t think it’s true that Kipling was able to commit to no one. He was committed to his friends, and his wife.
I think that he did believe in friendship. I quote from “The Thousandth Man” :
One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it’s worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin’ you.
I’m not as familiar with Kipling’s prose. I haven’t read “The Legs of Sister Ursula”, but I will seek it out.
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
I just had a funny thought: what happens when the man for whom all men count, but none too much meets the Thousandth Man? That would make a very one-sided friendship!
maven101 2 years ago from Northern ArizonaLevel 3 Commenter
That Thousandth Man is an ideal for the naive …I had a puppy like that once…
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Maven101, which explains why dog — and not man — is man’s best friend. There are many more dogs who can live up to the ideal of the Thousandth Man than men. This does not mean there is something wrong with the ideal. It just goes to show that only one in a thousand men is as good as a dog!
archdaw 2 years ago from Brooklyn
I interpreted the phrase, “If all men count with you, but none too much…” to be like the saying that I have heard all of my life. “If some like you and some don’t then you are doing OK, but if everyone likes or dislikes you, then you are doing something wrong.”
Any way that’s my take on that phrase. I love poetry, but alas I am not gifted like so many others. I loved your hub!!
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Archdaw, thanks! I hadn’t considered the interpretation you offered for that line, but maybe I should! “If everybody likes or dislikes you, then you are doing something wrong!” I’ve never heard that before. That must mean that popular and unpopular people are both doing something wrong…
manlypoetryman 2 years ago from (Texas !) Boldly Writing Poems Where No Man Has Gone Before…
Big fan of Kiplings…however…particularly because of “If”… I took that sentence you referenced in “If” as a poetic license to say “not that you can trust everyone”…Well, we each have our thinking…politicalness thinking aside…I Enjoyed your Hub about him!
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Manlypoetryman, thanks! I can see that there a lot more ways to interpret that line in “If” than I originally considered!
loveofnight 2 years ago from Baltimore, MarylandLevel 3 Commenter
a lot of good info and views, definitely a good share
A. Ontiveroz 2 years ago
Definitely informitive, well written and engaging. I liked how it had a lot of your own voice in it and was just not a summary of Kipling. One thing I have to say as a lover of fine poetry myself…that verse from “If”, I read very differently. “all men count with you but none too much”…I read as no matter how you may feel about friends and their opinions/agenda, you must use your own mind first and not let their motivations determine yours. What do you think about it??
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
A. Ontiveroz, thanks! If the line from “If” means, as you suggest, “no matter how you may feel about friends and their opinions/agenda, you must use your own mind first and not let their motivations determine yours”, then I find it much less objectionable. However, I have trouble interpreting it that way, because I distinguish between men and their opinions.
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Hummingbird, thanks! Always good to meet someone else who kipples!
myownworld 2 years ago from uk
I truly enjoyed reading this hub. I did my Masters in english Literature and read all his works (I love ‘if’ esp.). Although he’s considered quite imperialist for his attitude towards British Raj in south asia, I’ve always admired him as a writer. (He loved Lahore, the city of my birth!). Anyway, this was a treat to read…so thank you for sharing it with us. 🙂
Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author
Myownworld, thanks! It’s nice to meet another Kipling fan.
whonunuwho 10 months ago from United StatesLevel 5 Commenter
I really enjoyed this article about Kipling. I am a fan of his and my favorite poem is “If”. I have written a hub about him and also a piece of poetry in his honor. Thank you for your work.
Aya Katz 10 months ago from The OzarksHub Author
Thanks, Whonunuwho. Glad to meet another Kipling fan!
Bill Grace 6 months ago
My understanding, from long ago, is that Kipling’s “If” is based on a doctor he knew. I discovered this in an anthology I was reading but memory fails to remember the title. Quietpoettype@yahoo.com
Aya Katz 6 months ago from The OzarksHub Author
Bill, thanks for adding this information. I had not heard that. If you find a source about the doctor who inspired the poem, please feel free to leave a link here.
Really a very good article on a favorite author of mine—
Thanks, Audrey. I’m glad you enjoyed the article. It is always a pleasure to meet another Kipling fan!
I am quite sad Hubpages is unpublishing good content like this.
Thanks, Sweetbearies. I am sad about it, too, because it feels like the end of an era.
I always loved Riki Tiki Tavi, and I have an odd memory of having to memorize and recite the poem If in fourth grade.
Sweetbearies, Rikki Tikki Tavi is a wonderful story, and it plays an important part in the second half of my soon-to-be-published novel, Our Lady of Kaifeng.
That is good to know, Aya!
Dear Admin,
I just discovered your superb essay on Kipling. What a wonderfully informative piece.
As a fellow Kipling fan, I thought you might enjoy our IF artworks (even though you’re not much of an IF fan!) :
http://www.posterama.co/collections/frontpage/poem-if
Thank you,
Rana
Thanks, Rana. We usually don’t allow links to sales pages here in the PubWages comments, but since you seem to have actually read the pub and it is related, we’ll make an exception this time.
Possibly the most satisfying book I have written was The Surprising Mr Kipling, an anthology of the great man’s poems. It’s not till you get down to studying a subject in depth that you realise its full potentials.
I knew the imperialist tub thumper and the insightful commentator on the military, but it wasn’t till I had to put this anthology together that I got to know the full range of this incomparable poet. My book ends,
‘If we strip away the weaknesses of the man (which were few) and the faults and foibles of his generation (which were many), we are left with a complex individual determined to use his matchless gifts to give voice to the sufferings of the poor and the downtrodden, to face reality so far as he could understand it, and to ceaselessly probe the terrible mysteries of life.
His remains are fittingly interred beside those of Hardy and Dickens.’