# Do you read Kipling's poetry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649 "2012-11-11T02:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/1 "2012-11-11T02:50:32Z")
Inspired by this thread on interpreting a line from Kipling I wondered, do you read his poetry? If so, what is your favorite work(s) of his? > **[Please help me interpret a line from Kipling](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=671806)** > > An old favorite poem of mine is The Conundrum Of The Workshops, by Kipling. You can read it here: http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems\_conundrum.htm Here is my question. In this verse: We have learned to whittle the Eden Tree to the shape of a... I’m very sentimental, so I love “The Power of the Dog” [http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/power\_of\_dog.html](http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/power_of_dog.html) But being female I really relate to this “The Female of the Species” [http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/female\_of\_species.html](http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/female_of_species.html) There are many others of course, Kipling wrote a LOT of verse. But if you read him, what do you like? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/2 "2012-11-11T03:29:40Z")
I can’t say I’ve read a lot of Kipling, but as a raging Anglophile I like his stuff. “Recessional” is particularly good, I think - high-toned British imperialism, but with a tragic awareness that this, too, shall pass: > **[Recessional (poem)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recessional_(poem))** > > "Recessional" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was composed for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, in 1897. > "Recessional" contains five stanzas of six lines each. As a recessional is a hymn or piece of music that is sung or played at the end of a religious service, in some respects the title dictates the form of the poem, which is that of a traditional English hymn. > Initially, Kipling had not intended to write a poem for the Jubilee. It was written and published only towards the close of ... ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/3 "2012-11-11T03:31:37Z")
Honestly, I have small use for poetry, though Kipling is more tolerable than most, probably because I ADORE his prose. I am fond of [The White Man’s Burden](http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/white_mans_burden.html), but I probably don’t read and interpret quite the way Kipling intended when he wrote it, which is part of my admiration of the poem. Seen through a revised lens, it can work with a more sarcastic tone. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/4 "2012-11-11T03:33:13Z")
There are too many to enumerate right now, but the one that I keep coming back to is the obscure [To Wolcott Balestier](http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1787.html). There’s something about the last stanza that catches my throat every time. (Balestier and Kipling collaborated on a novel called _The Naulahka_. He was also the brother of Kipling’s wife, Carrie.) ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/5 "2012-11-11T03:52:27Z")
I love poetry and I do really enjoy Kipling’s. I need to find the one I really love. But, then the classic old school valentines day card: ‘Do you like Kipling?’ ‘I don’t know, I’ve never kippled.’ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/6 "2012-11-11T05:30:01Z")
One that is particularly relevant right now is [The Gods of the Copybook Headings](http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_copybook.htm). > [@](#): > > Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew > And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true > That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four > And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more. > > As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man > There are only four things certain since Social Progress began. > That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire, > And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire; > > And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins > When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins, > As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn, > The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return! ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/7 "2012-11-11T07:49:52Z")
Yes, I love Kipling. Actually I just re-read one of my favorites a few days ago; **Harp Song of the Dane Women.** “What is a woman that you would forsake her to go with the old gray widow-maker?” I read this at the beginning of **The Long Ships** , a novel about vikings, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/8 "2012-11-11T07:56:38Z")
I rather like Kipling’s work. “If” is particularly inspirational, though “The Absent Minded Beggar” and “Tommy” are favourites also. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/9 "2012-11-11T08:34:33Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > But being female I really relate to this “The Female of the Species” > > [http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/female\_of\_species.html](http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/female_of_species.html) Really? Even though his conclusion is that women are too savage to be allowed to govern? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/10 "2012-11-11T08:48:40Z")
**Baker** will probably be unsurprised to learn that I have read a great deal of Kipling’s prose and poetry alike. _MacAndrew’s Hymn_ is glorious even if I can’t seem to memorise much more than the opening line, “Lord, Thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream”. _The Ballad of East and West_, naturally, and I’ll always sing the praises of _Gunga Din_ to anyone who doesn’t get away fast enough - and that’s one that I _have_ got down pat. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/11 "2012-11-11T08:57:35Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I am fond of [The White Man’s Burden](http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/white_mans_burden.html), but I probably don’t read and interpret quite the way Kipling intended when he wrote it, which is part of my admiration of the poem. Seen through a revised lens, it can work with a more sarcastic tone. The best riposte to that was [The Brown Man’s Burden](http://www.swans.com/library/art8/xxx074.html), by Henry Labouchere, which he composed in 1899 but still reads like it was written last week: Pile on the brown man’s burden; And, if ye rouse his hate, Meet his old-fashioned reasons With Maxims up to date. With shells and dumdum bullets A hundred times made plain The brown man’s loss must ever Imply the white man’s gain. Pile on the brown man’s burden, compel him to be free; Let all your manifestoes Reek with philanthropy. And if with heathen folly He dares your will dispute, Then, in the name of freedom, Don’t hesitate to shoot. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/12 "2012-11-11T10:41:28Z")
I’d just like to say that [“If”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t-w5AZsg1Q) is absolutely my favorite poem of all time, because it describes the kind of person that I aspire to be. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/13 "2012-11-11T12:37:35Z")
We own a book of all his poems. My favorite is “The Sons of Martha”, about engineers (both kinds). ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/14 "2012-11-11T13:10:52Z")
“The Ballad of East and West” “Soldier an’ Sailor Too” He’s my favourite poet, even if he’s not the author of my favourite poem. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/15 "2012-11-11T15:50:17Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Really? Even though his conclusion is that women are too savage to be allowed to govern? That’s not how I interpreted the poem. The meaning I took is that the female of the species, (especially our own), is harder and more practical than the male, because she has the important mission of ensuring the safety of her offspring. She’ll do anything to protect them. Our men know this but by culture don’t want to admit to the fact they’re just a little scared of us. Thus they try to push us into the background, but still can’t conceal our power. Isn’t poetry great? Better than prose, IMNSHO, for expressing certain ideas, but it can be, I admit, more open to different interpretations. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/16 "2012-11-11T16:20:25Z")
[My Boy Jack](http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_jack.htm), written for his son who didn’t make it home from the trenches tears me right up. \* “When d’you think that he’ll come back?” Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.\* ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/17 "2012-11-11T17:00:33Z")
I don’t care for most poetry. I like a very few poets, and Kipling is one of them. Yes, he was racist and sexist. And he could write, both prose and poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/18 "2012-11-11T17:26:13Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > [My Boy Jack](http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_jack.htm), written for his son who didn’t make it home from the trenches tears me right up. > \* > “When d’you think that he’ll come back?” > Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.\* There was later a play based on the poem, and then a movie based on the play: [My Boy Jack (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Boy_Jack_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/19 "2012-11-11T17:29:09Z")
My students have to do a project around “The Young British Soldier,” “Gunga Din” and “Tommy” when we get to Imperialism. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649/20 "2012-11-11T17:47:27Z")
[Leslie Fish](http://lesliefish.com/) has put a bunch of his poems to music. She’s got no kind of voice, but it all works. I have Cold Iron on tape, and I’m considering getting it on CD, along with Our Fathers of Old (which I see has a setting of Recessional). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-kiplings-poetry/640649.md?page=2)