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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Rudyard Kipling


Guest jbd

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I have to admit to being a devotee of Kipling. The fact that his poetry is despised by the "great and the good" of the arty-f**ty" brigade makes it even more interesting!

Cribbed from another website is this URL:-

http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/au.../KiplingRudyard

It is an Aussie site and appears to contain all the published works written by RK.

It includes "Irish Guards in the Great War" Vols 1 & 2

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I have to admit to being a devotee of Kipling. The fact that his poetry is despised by the "great and the good" of the arty-f**ty" brigade makes it even more interesting!

Me too, having grown up with Just So Stories, Puck of Pooks Hill when I was little, and more recently since I became interested in WW1.

I seem to remember that 'If' came top in a poll of Britain's favourite poems not that long ago. Glad to know the public dont agree with the critics.

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Some of the greatest little phrases written were penned by this man and 'If' is by far my favourite peom and something i try to aspire to and fail frequently.

As for the arty-farty brigade send them up the line.

Arm.

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I too was brought up on the "Just So Stories".

Would agree that "If" is something to aspire to, and like Arm I fail all the time. The only person I can honestly say who came close to it was my grandfather William (who served as a Private in the ASC during the Great War). He belonged to that generation which regarded the "normal" way to conduct one's life was as set out in the poem.

Tim

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Arm, the arty-farty brigade were sent up the line, where they wrote war poetry!!!! :rolleyes:

(dons tin helmet and files into deepest dugout to the shout of "Incoming!!!") :)

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Yep, Kipling is one of the greatest voices of our period! (1914-1918 that is!) His poem 'Gethsemane' is the finest war poem in English in my opinion.

Kipling did indeed suffer some knee-jerk criticism in literary circles for the bulk of the 20thC....but true critics were never in any doubt about his importance. The essays by TS Eliot and the answering essay by George Orwell are great reads for anyone who needs convincing! (My money's on Orwell!) More recently, the poets / critics Craig Raine and Tom Paulin have both championed Kipling.

Has anyone read the Ian Gilmour biography?

Cheers

Simon

Private

1st Bn Arty Farty Brigade :D

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By the way, the people at the Kipling Society on:

http://www.kipling.org.uk/

are very helpful with queries on the man himself. Nice website too, and good references, links etc.

SHF

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Agree with Simon's comments. Pre-war, it was quite acceptable to combine an interest in poetry with a military career; Julian Grenfell is but one example of this.

Remember, this was a generation which made its own entertainment, and an interest or ability in the arts did not provoke the same sniggers and jibes of limp-wristedness that predominate today.

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'My Boy Jack' by the Holts, which focusses on the loss of John Kipling and Rudyard's role in the early IWGC is well worth reading. I would also warmly recommend a visit to Kipling's house, Bateman's in Sussex, which I saw for the first time this summer on my way to the battlefields.

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