Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-06-15
Rudyard kipling.

The golden exterior of a popular liter
AIRY idol has been boldly broken by
Harvard professor, and the inner clay Of
inferiOrity coldly exposed in the presence
Of a considerable number of devout wor-
shippers. Charles townsend Copeland
talked on Kipling TO a large gathering in
Sever hall, Cambridge, recently and while
he found much that was good, he never
theless picked some flaws in the Kipling
fabric which were not altogether pleasant
revelations to the POO or 800 kipling devo-
tees who were present. The lecture, in
substance was as follows:
In considering the things which Kip
ling has done, 1t is perhaps easier to first
make mention OF what he has not done
lie has never written a novel. He has
That Failed Captain Courageo1s,'
and, in collaboration with his brOther-in-
law, The Naulakha. But, except by
very partisan young people, it is lmpos-
sible 10 be maintained that they are nov
There is no reason OF denying their
right 10 classification as novels simply
because they may lack the perfection of
severe works Of art We should not cavil
At mat PVT they nave NJ construction,
ana no development. In the catalogue Of
characters. nobody changes any by the
lapse OF time; there is no gain, no added
increment from beginning 70 end Of these
stories. Even while there is an amazing
glow Of life and spirit and art and slang
expression in them all. still no one really
cares for the characters. They are not
sympathetic; The question then. is well
trayed character property Certainly
Dick and Maisie are the same childish
creatures at the end of the story that
they were in the beginning.
IF in the larger works we fail to find
characters. how then can we find or rea-
sonably demand them in the shorter sto-
rles. In the rich succession Of English
novels we lind character after character,
persons whom We add to our store of
friends or enemies. But | don't discover
as many as one person in the individual
sense in kipling's works to add to this
store. Mulvaney is the generic Pat the
world over; Learoyd. the stage Yorkshire
man, ana Otheris only a typical coCkney.
There is nothing in these characters to
make them in any way different from any
other man of their particular Glass;
"kipling can write not only poetry, but
Ting speech even into the mouths of
horses, engines and the animals Of the
jungle. Language is thing over which
he mas every control but characters he
has not drawn, and he has yet TO write
novel"
In illustration Of his versatility Mr..
Copeland then read the three poems, On
Born an and Tommy and said: -''N
The three poems illustrate the three
principal merits Of kplings work He
knows the east, and has presented India
to us ompletely-sounds, sights, smells
and all. We feel India and we smell it,
Wherever he has set MS foot on Indian
soil. he takes Us with him. They may not
but the most pleasing portraits are not
necessarily the best lkenesses-worse
luck to the individual. But the satisfac-
ton in reading these stories Is complete
He has, furthermore aroused the spir-
ii of imperial federation between the sew
eral colonies ana the mother country
among his fellow Englisnmen, and ohe
conviction has developed that the great
empire shouIu be thoroughly united. This
is the highest generic idea that he often
est repeats.
and has presented him better than any
one else has ever done. Some proof OF
this fact IS found in the circumstance OF
his songs of soldier life having found
great popularity everywhere in English
army barracks.
His best work, after the jungle books,
are the short stories about these hiped
natives in India. Kipling mas run rail
road into the Arabian Nights, and light
ed them up with electric lights. kipI,ng
is the master of the short story. This
is his chief literary achievement. He has
written % tirst-rate short stories to one
iirst-rate short story written by any 9TH
er Englishmen. He has filed pages with
noble English, somewhat ragged ana
journalistic in style sometimes, but most
effectual for his purposes
I'm his later snort stories there ma mas
been an unfortunate deterioration They
are 50 long and have 50 many details
that one wearies himself in reading them.
In his earlier stories he told so much IN
little. lie used to throw such a powerful
light with his little bullseye lantern that
quite as much was seen in the shadows
as in the direct pathway. Now he laborS
heavily along with whole battery OF
electric lights. | can stand ii even Wheh
ships talk, but when the different parts
Of the ship start up a conversation, ana
| the pot and the Kettle cnat in the iron
language. | revolt As to talking ann
mails | wish a close time were put on
the bagging Of these creatures, as well as
engines. boilers, stringers and bands. =
''Kipling mas written few poems Oh
thpGp
THE Lost Shanty.' and The Bell Buoy
But most of his verse, though skilful con
tans certain alloy of rhetoric or decla-
nation which prevents us from compdI-
ing him with such poets as Shelley, Keats
and Colcridge. | am in hopes klplns
will soon give to the world with thc ala
Of some collaboration a drama on Inc
Indian Mutiny.'