Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)

Rating:
Summary: A good starting point
Review: Fifty years ago some of the poems in this book were part of the mental baggage of every adult Engish speaker. These days Kipling's reputation has taken a hammering. It's easy to brand him rascist by quoting "the white man's burden" or lines like: "he was white clear white inside" from gunga din and forgetting the last three lines of the same poem, Imperialistic, mysoginist or whatever is currently unfashionable. Even as a poet he hasn't recovered from the movement of poetry during the twentieth century from the reader to the university. You don't need critics to "explain Kipling". There's not a lot your average university critic can say about Kipling's verse, he doesn't need copious critical commentary, and since he doesn't offer the critic much hope of publication, he's been neglected or damned with faint praise: "an ability to make the commonplace memorable" Well, invest a dollar and find out for yourself. He sings. "If" is, whatever you think of the last line, full of fine advice. "In the neolithic age" is something all writers and critics should read and remember and no one summed up the life of the British private soldier better. Dover thrift continue to provide an excellent service making good, cheap editions, free of any critical clutter, available so that readers can read for themselves. The only niggle with htis book is that Kiplin does need a glossary and the glossary in this book is a little too haphazard.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Kipling's Poetry
Review: Rudyard Kipling's poetry and prose resonated with the general public in Great Britain and America during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Later, as his patriotism and unabashed support for the British empire became viewed as outdated, his reputation faded.

It is easy to dismiss Kipling as culturally insensitive, especially if one has read little of his poetry. And admittedly, it is not difficult to find specific verses to support this contention. However, I quickly discovered that this characterization of Rudyard Kipling is incomplete, one sided, and simplistic.

Many readers may be surprised to encounter verses that are already familiar in this inexpensive Dover collection, Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems. Kipling quotations long ago enter the lexicon of the mainstream.

The Ballad of East and West begins with the familiar lines: "Oh, East is East and West is West, and Never the Twain Shall Meet." Contrary to what these opening lines suggest, this ballad illustrates Kipling's appreciation for what we now call cultural diversity. The Ballad of East and West ends with this thought: "But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth."

In the Neolithic Age: "There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right." This nonjudgmental refrain is surprisingly modern.

The Sea and the Hills: "So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills." Each verse in this poem proclaims the majesty and power of the great seas, sentiments widely held by the seafaring British people. And yet, each verse ends with a reminder that others, like the hillmen, equally respect their native environment.

The Betrothed: "And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a Smoke." This much quoted comical reply was made to Maggie's ultimatum, "You must choose between me and your cigar". No, this might not appeal to the modern woman. Possibly, however, The Female of the Species might go some ways in making amends with its refrain: "For the female of the species is more deadly than the male."

The Absent-Minded Beggar: "Pass the hat for your credit's sake, and pay - pay - pay." This widely popular poem was credited with the amassing of donations for the aged, destitute veterans of Britain's many conflicts.

Kipling declined most of the many honors which were offered him, including a knighthood, the Poet Laureateship, and the Order of Merit, but in 1907 he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature.