The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-03-11
RuDYARD KIPLlNa.

AoABgA q AAEaAAbA VI 4egAi ANN RAAH q
question Of Interpretation. HIS success
is phenomenal his fame, as we believe,
will remain an enduring part Of the
glory Of English letters, Two Of his
recent poems show him at his highest
fight; but there is no suggestion that
his wing will weaken or his eye be
dimmed in the face Of the sun. The
poems to which / refer are Pharaoh
and the Sergeant" and "The4Feet Of the
Young Men" I have been deeply i'm
pressed with these productions, and /
can but regard them as the strongest
and best work of the century's close.
What IS the stcret of Mr.. Kipling's
powerG It seems to consist Of three ell.
ements, each Of which is 50 strongly de-
veloped as to give its possessor a full
claim to literary prominence. These
are: wide range Of information, power
Of condensation, and cogency Of ex.
preston, I venture the opinion that
in each Of these particulars Mr.. Kip
ling is the foremost writer Of his times.
In such a poem as The Feet Of the
Young Men, the reader can but be i'm
pressed with the vast extent and va,
rfety Of Kipling's knowledge. There 3
hardly a kind OF scenery IN 10 world
which is not included in the tremen.
dous panorama Of this poem. Each
section Of it carries us into some new
land, far, far away, and opens to us a
scene 50 picturesque and vivid that we
seem to have been whirled in an instant
from zone to zone. Now It is the polar
region and now It is the tropics; now
" is the mountain, and now Il is the
jRngle; now it is the deep recesses OF.
themoaning forest, and now It is the
river bank Of distant island with its
fringe Of bamboo, and its smoking vol
eano ii the horizon
So, also, Of the animals hunted by
the Young Men Every creature, from
the r~hinoceros to the rabbit from The
bear to the beaver, from the tiger to
the tortoise, from the lemur to the liz
ard, is included in this procession which
the Red Gods devote to the hunters de.
sire. In like manner every type Of man
is introduced, Now it is the fisherman,
now the Indian trepper, and now the
English adyenturer going forth to com.
bat with the caribou on the mountains
or the tiger in his lair; now the white
man, now the yellow man, and r-wl
the black man, but always with a hdeI-
Of character not surpassed in any
production Of the age.
KipIng's power O.. -condensing much
into little is the eminent quality Of his
This is strongly exemplided in
Pharaoh and the Sergeant. In this
poem there is a revelation Of enough
history to fill a volume. am not sure
that fan the minor suggestions Of this
song were followed out and well devel.
opedin prose narrative, It would notifIl
three volumes or q library It might
be difficult to find any aspect Of Egyp-
tan history, ancient and modern
is not here sketched with Kip.
lightning strokes. The very
are big with chapters. Note
juxtaposition Of characters in the
title. Think Of Pharaoh till You realize
who he is and Of Sergeant Whatisname
You know him. Note the power.
.ul impersonation This Pharaoh has
more in him than has any other charac-
er with whom I am acquainted. He
everything in him from Meme to
dahdi Pharaoh Is six thousand years
I'd at least and he is an here. IN his
are included the historical folios !
4 sixty centuries. And in the blouse !
{ Sergeant Whatisnamo are the whole !
and tradition Of the Anglo-sax.
a race, Under Pharaoh's belt are
wenty.six Ptolmeys and under Che :
ergeants, q hundred sea kings and iii
soyereigns Of England, Tie .iuxta.
Of the two characters s@urpaas
invention Of historical genius. i. Is
3 inspiration.
The nyidness Of this two-page drama !.
az great as its condensation Is mar. =
,lioua Such a result could not be sf.
cted without the highest dramatieail
'wer Here description and action A
2 wrought together; the epic Is re-
aled In a word.
aid England unto Pharaoh. 4 mnst make
nan ofyou,e 4
Ihe most powerful nation 81 Christen. s.
"a addresses a character which stands
the most powerful nation of anti.
ig. What IS the address, III must
axe 9 man 0f your no nation conla I.
.dertake a more serious task. 70
Ike q mar IS a work which bas con-
lnded an other men and p%erpiezga
g England undertakes tho tack d
thont niHUhing And the subject q
lieh she selects IS who4 il whals y
cofaing e Kipling at8l mere a
Il a tae Ats bottoms ana Whit pt
laes making 3 nnH Bat M thi. Y
e mpd tHas England mderhk .
XIV nol oniy make man but Sc II
Masa 9ae o Wii
oad Hsef
m - merely 4 saD "