The times., 1899-02-28
RudyarG iIipIinc.


tainly no other author. could be so i'll
spared at this stage Of the worlds devel
opment. In the case of any man who has
achieved distinction at the early age of
thirty-four there must of necessity be poig-
nant regret, in case of his death. that he
could mt have been spared to reach the
full measure of his powers; and in this in
stance the man has accomplished so
much in his brief period of fame that
the public is at loss to guess what the
climaXs of his power may be.
Kipling occupies a position in English
literature which is in several WAYS abso-
lutely unique He has not only done
better work than anyone else in several
different lines. but he has done it
in a way entirely his own. Rarely, even
in his earlier stories, has he shown traces
of any other. writer's influence. He
seems to have passed the initiative stage
of development during his schooldays.
plain Tales From the Hills" his first
famous book. made its advent in a field
already well occupied--that of the short
story-and entitled its author to a place
in the first rank of short-story writer's.
''Barrack- Room Ballads won fame in
field practically new: so did THE Jungle
Books which are like nothing else in
literature. The Light That Failed is a
novel on thoroughly new line, making
use of no weN-~ern devices. dealing with
no hackneyed circumstances; even the
hero and heroine are of a type new to
fiction. And IN The Seven Seas Kiping
not only proved himself to be poet,
but he gave to the language ballads as
individual as his prose works. Here and
there, as in The Last Rhyme of True
Thomas, he used the old ballad form
with wonderful ease and charm. forcing
a new meaning into an old legend In
other poems he has not only dealt with
| subjects novel in literature, but he has
used unfamiliar and even original meters
and forms of verse. The First Chantey''
is in its rhythm unlike anything else in
English poetry, and yet the cadence is
eXquisitely musical. and suited to the sub
ject, while The Last Chantey" is written
in the metre of an old half-forgotten
English hymn. One of the things which
distinguishes these poems above others is
the unerring instinct which the poet shows
| in the choice OF rhythm and movement:
and another is the astonishing breadth of
his vocabulary. When il certain word ex-
actly expresses his meaning he uses it, no
matter whether it is in common use or
not; but let any reader try to substitute
familiar phrase for some apparently far
fetched adjective or noun, and he will
find that the unfamiliar word cannot ea..
lily be supplanted. 1t belongs where it
is, and cannot be dislodged.
Another unique phase of Kipling's :,enius
is that it is cosmopolitan. Born in India.
he made himself the interpreter of English
life and thought recognized as such at
home and abroad. Thoroughly English in
| character, he has yet recorded the inmost
life of the Hindu; and that is no small
thing TO do, for rarely does the conquering
race understand the conquered He is not
a soldier, or a mechanic, or sailor, or a
hunter. yet he portrays the lives of all
these By sort of intuition. After some
six months residence in Vermont he wrote
The Walking Delegate" a story in which
the local color is perfect, three or four
American dialects are accurately used,
and the labor situation in America satir-
lied as no American could have done it.
His latest achieyement, however is in
some ways greater than all the rest In
| the three poems ''Recessional, " THE Truce
of the Bear" and The White Mans Bur
den,'' he entered that most dangerous
field for the man of letters. the field OF
international relations Each of these
poems in its different way handles a great
national problem with the same sure. skill
full touch that the author displayed in
writing of the affairs OF a little hilI-sta-
ton in India. At the height of England
pride, during the magnificent show OF
power and wealth which attracted all The
world at the Queens Jubilee" came the
warning note of the "Recessional." Wher
the world was half deceived by the mes.
sage Of the Gar and the treacherous quie
of Europe, Kipling sent forth The True,
of the Bear" And al this period of .riti.
cal moment in the national policy o.
America, The White Mans Burden
came from over seas to outline with :
definite and assured touch the only saf,
course for great nation 10 pursue TO.
ward its dependent colonies. Kipling LA.
proved that, although a poet he has tho
sensitiyeness to national conditions and III,
seeing eye of the man of affairs
Perhaps the most marked quality in hii
work is its fearlessness. He has nevel
hesitated to leave the beaten track. ever
when it was his own. He has adventure,
in all fields in turn. and compelled admi
ration in every one. Like one of his owl
heroes. he has taken the world by III,
shoulders No other writer of his TIM
has had to face such storm OF disappTo
baton. No other has so swiftly force,
critics TO praise him. II is a curious fac
that, with the possible exception of "Th,
Jungle Bool;s." not one of his works sine
the first has been met with anything lik,
unqualified approval on the part of tn,
public. In the case of every new worl
the first verdict has been that the autho
has made a mistake in leaving familiar
ground or that his style is deteriorating
Yet before the season closed each booI
has proved more popular than any of IL
predecessors. When THE Seven Seas an
peared. hundreds declared that it was no
poetry and that the author was utterl,
unable to write poetry; yet it now seem
certain that he will be known as poe
rather than as a novelist, and that his late
works, with few exceptions are greater
in conception and execution than his ear
Iier stories. The reason Of this is III,
, originality and power of his mind. 1t take
time TO recognize type Of genius abso
lutely new.