soldiers 3. A nick on one of their hoofs identified army patrol its perimeters (to 'tile' is to guard the door horses as property of the Crown. of a Masonic lodge), and gunfire stands in for the 4. The queen's mark: 'V.R.I.' (Victoria Regitia et Masons' formal opening ceremonies. lmperatrix, 'Victoria Queen and Empress').
.
182 0 / RUDYARD KIPLING
We 'ave 'eard o' the Widow at Windsor, It's safest to leave 'er alone: For 'er sentries we stand by the sea an' the land Wherever the bugles are blown.6 35 (Poor beggars!?an' don't we get blown!) Take 'old o' the Wings o' the Mornin',7 An' flop round the earth till you're dead; But you won't get away from the tune that they play To the bloomin' old rag? over'ead. i.e., the flag 40 (Poor beggars!?it's 'ot over'ead!) Then 'ere's to the sons o' the Widow, Wherever, 'owever they roam. 'Ere's all they desire, an' if they require A speedy return to their 'ome. 45 (Poor beggars!?they'll never see 'ome!) 1892
Recessional1
1897
God of our fathers, known of old? Lord of our far-flung battle-line? Beneath whose awful Hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine? 5 Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet Lest we forget?lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies? The Captains and the Kings depart? Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice,
io An humble and a contrite heart.2 Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget?lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away? On dune and headland sinks the fire3? I? Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!4 Judge of the Nations, spare us yet, Lest we forget?lest we forget!
6. Allusion to W. E. Henley's poem 'Pro Rege refrain?'Lest we forget'?gained additional Nostro' (1892; see p. 1642). poignancy: it was employed as an epitaph on
7. Psalm 139.9. countless war memorials. 1. A hymn sung as the clergy and choir leave a 2. Cf. Psalm 51.17: 'The sacrifices of God are a church in procession at the end of a service. Kip-broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
ling's hymn was written on the occasion of the thou wilt not despise.'
Jubilee celebrations honoring the sixtieth anniver-3. Bonfires were lit on high ground all over Britain
sary of Queen Victoria's reign, celebrations that on the night of the Jubilee.
had prompted a good deal of boasting in the press 4. Once capitals of great empires. The ruins of
about the greatness of her empire. 'Recessional' Nineveh, in Assyria, were discovered buried in
was first published in the London Times, and Kip-desert sands by British archaeologists in the 1850s.
ling refused to accept any payment for its publi-Tyre, in Phoenicia, had dwindled into a small Leb
cation, then or later. After World War I the poem's anese town.
.
THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN / 1821
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
20 Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe?
Such boasting as the Gentiles use
Or lesser breeds without the Law5?
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget?lest we forget!
25 For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube? and iron shard?6 cannon, rifle All valiant dust that builds on dust, And guarding calls not Thee to guard? For frantic boast and foolish word, io Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
1897 1897,1899
The White Man's Burden1
Take up the White Man's burden? Send forth the best ye breed? Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; 5 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? io 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, 15 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 20 And bid the sickness cease; And when your goal is nearest The end for others sought, Watch Sloth and heathen Folly Bring all your hope to nought.
5. Cf. Romans 2.14: 'For when the Gentiles, Jubilee in 1897, but Kipling abandoned it in favor which have not the law, do by nature the things of 'Recessional.' He returned to the poem when
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are disagreements between Spain and the United
a law unto themselves.' States over Spanish colonial rule in Cuba and else
6. Cf. Psalms 20.7: 'Some trust in chariots, and where sparked the Spanish-American War in some in horses,
