Ed: we used to have a “Poets’ Corner” where, from time to time, we published favourite poems. Our contributor Sonya Porter reminded me of this a few days ago and proposed a poem which has been maligned and condemned as the author has been maligned and condemned and banned from our schools. The author is Rudyard Kipling – and here is the poem, for you to read with careful interest so that you can refute all those who have never read the poem and who condemn the poet unread.
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The White Man’s Burden
by Rudyard Kipling
TAKE up the White Man’s burden –
Send forth the best ye breed –
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild –
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Take up the White Man’s burden –
In patience to abide
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain,
To seek another’s profit,
And work another’s gain.
Take up the White Man’s burden –
The savage wars of peace –
Fill full the mouth of famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man’s burden –
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper –
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go make them with your living,
And mark them with your dead !
Take up the White Man’s burden –
And reap his old reward,
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard –
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah slowly !) towards the light:-
“Why brought ye us from bondage,
“Our loved Egyptian night ?”
Take up the White Man’s burden –
Ye dare not stoop to less –
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent sullen peoples
Shall weigh your Gods and you.
Take up the White Man’s burden –
Have done with childish days –
The lightly proffered laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years,
Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgement of your peers.
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Ed: you might also like to read the background notes – here – which provide the historical context and give a few explanations for the words Kipling used.
I think Rudyard Kipling was a genius in his own field. That field was romanticism, story-telling and poetry. When it came to politics I suspect, but am not sure, that he was naïve with an inner conflict which inspired his writing and allowed him to exercise his genius. This of course did not make him right.
His meanings are as hidden sometimes as those of Lewis Carroll and at times just as ‘off the wall’. The confusion resulting in his prose allowed him to tread the fine line of acceptance, gathering many admirers, and I believe, encouraging the continuation of his work.
There is no doubt that many of his works were great. But politically and morally I would not personally touch with a barge-pole. As a romantic he was unreliable as a wordsmith he was untouchable as a person he was misguided. I suspect many have lost their minds in far off places living privileged lives among the ‘natives’.
I take the point about sharing culture and ethics but also suspect the reality was far grubbier. Sometimes there is no right and wrong.
That is my opinion of Rudyard Kipling.
Roger, you have not sinned as you call it! You helped to civilise lots of ignorant foreigners . These then get too big for their boots and the commies exploit the morons.
You are too kind Mike, I like your interpretation, but I was appealing to Viv for a bit of slack as I felt I had exceeded the word number allowance
Well, I don’t ‘do’ poetry but it’s raised a few thoughts in my mind.
Interesting just how far back America became a ‘Colonial Power’. What hypocrisy half a century later to tell us we must give up ours. As I understand they did tell us following WW2.
Kipling’s experience was in India. Straight away it strikes me that India has done very well from being ruled by the British White Man!
There were other ‘Imperialists’, from other ‘White Nations’, I still hold the view that the British Empire gained far more benefit from our rule, than the others.
Still I may have been indoctrinated I suppose. Though not by Kipling!
To be flippant: The white man’s burden (in a word, modern civilisation for which everyone now flocks to our countries) – look how far we have come – is now critical race theory; thanks a lot world.
Oow you might like to read the notes Viv says………
I did, for me who has no idea of literacy examination I.e.the digging into the guts of any writing , elucidating meaning and setting of words and phrases and historical background.;no idea and to be honest little inclination, I read a book for the story, pretty exclusively and as for poetry, that was unintelligible and for the birds and even history I was more interested in reading the story, even though I often already had an idea of the ending before I started, but it was interesting to learn (not remember?) how we got there.
So for me, this has been quite a thought provoking event, and much self examination. I have no intention of commenting on all aspects of the notes, but I was particularly taken with the use of the word “child” in connection with Empire, darkness, evolving and white man’s burden.
Concepts of their having an effect on modern thinking of those who were descendants of those whose antecedents were the subject of White mans’ burden..
As for the self examination, I went to sea in the Merchant Navy in 1953 and the company I joined was primarily involved in the West African trade and thus I suppose, since Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast ( subsequently Ghana) were still not independent, I must have witnessed something of the last rites of Empire.
To be honest it never occurred to me at that stage to ask why we were there apparently occupying (well governing in tandem with locals preparing for self government), but I was aware there was a ” them and us” all whites, whether they came from Eorope, the States or even New Zealand were known as “Europeans” and perhaps even officially so, as sailors there was little opportunity for contact with shoreside people or even how any of the communities conducted their daily lives, but in towns and settlements there was usually what was known as “the European Club” of which many members were also high ranking or rich(?) local officers or officials.
But all these colonies were very diverse geographically, Nigeria in particular, where towns could be a mixture of modern buildings and others not more advanced than shanties, whereas the Niger River was a delta area, mostly Creeks and Mangrove swamps where life was extremely primitive, unattached and isolated bankside villages transport and fishing carried out in paddled dug out canoes, water for washing and every other purpose including drinking taken from the muddy waters of those creeks.
So perhaps my initial perception of this new world which was a mixture of semi civilisation and still ” darkest Africa” might have attuned with Kiplings assessment and subsequent reading of the work of the Scottish Missionary Mary Slessor who I regard as a top level operator in the business of not only bringing God to areas around Calabar, but initiating and physically bringing through local chiefs into some sort of civilised activity and order.She actually built her own mud hut, went about bare foot and organised village councils where chiefs who indulged in vile practices came to order, not only that but she came to be appointed as an administrator who recognised her “civilising” and organisational efforts
Yes in those circumstances I would be prepared to regard the progress from the darkness of barbarity to that of a learning (or being taught) as that of the progress of children.
Anyway there is a very old book about Mary Slessor and her work called Calabar and there is also the story of Mary Kingsley (Charles Kingsley’s sister) who travelled in West Africa and met Mary .they also travelled on earlier versions of the company ships I worked on.
Finally I would also observe the Africa I saw was a far different box of tricks from the “white mans’ grave” of half a century before, yes it must have truly been a burden then!
Oh Viv I have sinned, I hope you’ll treat it as a good cause, Empah is a big subject and Kipling was a big author