Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-10-22
Hlistellaneous &eaaing.
KIPLlNG'S LATEST POEM.

klPLlN6S LATEST fUEM.
His Fearless Warning to the World Not to
Heed the Czar of Russia.
Washington Post.
Above all other gifts, Mr.. Rudyard
Kipling seems to possess that of speak
ing vividly and to the point, in words
that men remember, and that may
therefore be said to exert very appre-
ciable influence. 1t was this knack of
getting at the pith of things, and then
molding that pith into forms and fig
ures that strongly imprint themselves
upon the memory which made "The
Recessional," the most notable poem
of the jubilee year.. The world recog-
nized in it the fearless expression of a
sober thought, making itself heard
above the not inexcusable babel of
voices in time of great national re-
joicing and justifable rational pride.
And the same keen.s .sightedness which
made "The Recessional" possible has
given rise to a poem, if not greater, at
least as great-"The Truce of the
ear"-which Mr.. Kipling contributes
to this weeks issue of Literature
(Harper & Brothers.) "The Recess
sional" is remarkable for its fearless
ness. 1t gives expression to what has
been in many minds since the appear
ance of the Cars proclamation in be-
half of universal disarmament, and
It's motto is: "There is no truce with
Adam .Zad-the bear that walks like a
man." Mr. Kipling does not hesitate
to show his distrust of the motive
which inspired that now famous docu-
ment, and the result is perhaps the
most important achievement in poetry.
To cite from the Czar's proclamation {:
"It is the supreme duty, therefore,
at the present moment, Of all states to
put some limit 10 these increasing arm
aments, and to find means of avert
ing the calamities which threaten the
whole world. Impressed by this feel
ing His Majesty the Emperor" etc.
Mr.. Kipling tells in his own wonder
full way the story of the hunter who
forbore to kill the great bear. The
poem, which has not previously ap-
prared in any newspaper, is published
III The Post by special arrangement,
and is as follows:
THE TRUCE OF THE BEAR.
From Literature, Published by Harper
& Bros. Copyright, 1893, by Rudyard
Kipling.
Yearly, with tent and rifle, our careless
white men 60
By the pass called Muttianee, to shoot in
-. the vale below.
Yearly by Muttianee he" follows our
Matun, the old blind beggar bandaged
from brow to chin.
Eyeless, noseless and lipless-toothless,
of broken speech,
Seeking dole at the doorway he num-
bles his tale to each
Over and over the story, ending rs he
began:
make We no truce with Adam-zad-
the bear that walks like man!
"There was a flint in my musket-
pricked and primed was the pan
When l went hunting Adam -zad-the
hear that stands like man.
I looked my last on the timber, 1 looked
my last on the snow
When went hunting Adam -zad fifty
summers ago.
"I knew his times and seasons as he
knew mine that fed
BY night in the ripened maizefield and
robbed my house of bread
I knew his strength and cunning, as he
knew mine that crept
At dawn to the crowded goat pens and
plundered while slept.
up from his stony playground-down
from his we'll -digged lair
Out on the naked ridges ran Adam zad,
Adam-Zad, the bear,
Groaning, grunting, and roaring, heavy
with stolen meals.
Two long marches to northward and l
was at his heels!
"Two full marches to northward, at the
fall of the second night,
I came on mine enemy, Adam-zad, all
weary from his flight.
There was charge In the musket-
prick ed and primed was the pan
My finger crooked on the trigger, when
he reared up like man.
"Horrible, hairy, human, with paws like
hands in prayer,
Making his supplication, rose Adam zad,
the bear!
looked at the swaying shoulders, at the
paunch's sway and swing,
And my heart was touched with pity for
the monstrous, plodding thing.
"Touched with pity and wonder, I did
not fire then
1 have looked no more on women-l
have walked no more with men.
Nearer he tottered and nearer, with paws
like hands that pray,
From brow to jaw the steel.shod paw, it
ripped my face away!
Sudden, silent, and savage, soaring as
flame the blow
Faceless I fell before his feet fifty sum-
mers ago.
heard him grunt and chuckle-1 heard
him pass to his den.
He left me blind to the darkling years
and the little mercy of men.
"Now We go down in the morning with
guns of the newer style,
The load Il have fel) in the middle and
range q have heard) mile?
Luck to the white mans rifle that shoots
so fast and true,
But-pay, and l lift my bandages and
show what the bear can do!'
(Flesh like a Stag in the furnace, knob
bed and withered and gray
Matun, the old blind beggar, he gives