The Washington times., 1903-11-07

latest COiAECt4OD VI SAAN FN~-~-~
Of Rudyard Kipling, has
aroused comments many and
diverse, which, by the way, is the case
with nearly everything that kipiing mas
written from the first. 1t is also Gu
rious that, with the possible excep-
ton of the Jungle Books" every one
of his books has been dubbed a proof
OF his deteriorating powers, and every
one of them has sold at least as well
as its predecessors. Now. either some
of the critics are mistaken, or the
popular taste is deteriorating at least
as fast as Mr.. Kiplins.
II may be worth while TO anaiyZe
this odd phenomenon, and, II possible,
discover a cause for il. In the first
place, Il must be admitted that no
one living today has done good work
in as many fields as has I6ipling, and
ne is not yet an old man. This ex-
traordinary versatility has made 1t
necessary for nearly every one of his
important books to be so entirely diff
ferent from its predecessors that those
who liked his former work could not
at once readjust their taste. When
The Seven Seas" appeared. seven
years ago. it was said that that col
lection was far inferior TO "Barrack
Room BalauSt Dul poeAlS lIO4l i 4AS
Seven Seas are now quoted by the
critics as the highwater mark of the
poets work to prove his deterioration
in later lyrics The deduction from this
seems to be that it takes time to learn
to appreciate Kipling.
In The Five Nations he has followed
his old rule. and come out in a new
place The book Is full OF political
poems-things such as no Englishman
has written before. THE BigeIow Pa
pers'' are the only things in American
literature remotely like them. and, com
pared with Kiplings terse allegortes
the rhy1a1d newspaper correspondence
of Hosea Bigelow is longwinded and
desultory. 1t is hardly possible for one
10 admire "Aiandalay' and The ISL
anders'' with the same half of his mind
The former is a pure lyric. the latter
a political pamphlet couched, FOR greater
/ force IN the form Of verse.
But some one says verse is not the
] proper form for political tracts. Yot
/ cannot make a spoon without spoilinl
q horn. and a perfect poem cannot alsC
teach a lesson. Perhaps not. though
the. Truce OF the Bear comes nPal
/ performing that miracle; but suppose 4
I was not Kipling's intention TO sacrific'
4 sense TO poetry? Suppose he merel,
( desired TO use his rhymes 10 edge hi
moral? Has he not done il? Would any
J body remember a prose political pam
/ phlet. it he had written one, as peopl'
/ remember and quote THE Islanders.
The Lesson The White Mans Bur
/ den?" Has he not been hammering 70
/ years at the need for drilled army. a
/ the necessity os the best men. not th'
1 second best, for colonial government
at the danger in which English indif
! ference and conservatism place Englisl
prestige. and did anybody except n
Kipling enthusiasts ever know IL unit
I he put 1t in the concentrated form o
verse? A strong political poem bear
/ the same relation to a pamphlet that I
! charge Of dynamite does to a NAVY witt
4 a spade The very fact that the pOliti
/ cal poems overshadow the pure lyric
I in this book shows how strong they are
1 So does the undeniable fact that the.
( have been quoted in nearly every dis
4 cussion Of International politics sine
4 they appeared.
The absolute idiocy Of that polio
which sent unframed and ineXperienee e
British infantry 10 South Africa 10 figh
/ mounted Boer sharpshooters might hav
I been abused IL a forty-Dage masazin
/ article, without na-L the elect oA ina
( cutting little stanza:
we have spent t-.o hundred niliio
pounds TO prove the fact once more
That horses are quicker than men atoo
since tu.o and Two make :our:
Z And horses have four legs and Dlen nav
two legs, and two into four goe
twice,
And nothing ovsc except our lessou-an
very cheap ., rhe price.
Not poetry? Maybe net, but il
rhymed epigram. and that worth seN
eral speeches in parliament when
comes II moving the popular imagins
ton
Kipling has apparently set himself
one task that OF shaking uD purbiin
British conservatism to the ccnsciou,
ness OF the needs Of IN empire. TO tn
emo he strikes again aud again the not
OF danger on the Russicn side; point
out the peril Of unpr epared sloth, IL
neec Of drill and discipi ue and sense
, duty AS far back as The Gale
Slave" he was writing OF possible dan
E ger from the Slav. In The Seven seas
he wrote Of the need
In the day Of Armagiddon. the la
great fight OF all.
I That our House stand together and q
pillars NAV not fall
whatever may be ones notions r