Kiplings Vampire 1897

## About Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (/ˈrʌdjərd/ RUD-yərd; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in India, which inspired much of his work.

Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story;his children's books are classics of children's literature, and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".

Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the British Empire, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius, as distinct from fine intelligence, that I have ever known." In 1907, at the age of 42, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize and its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.

Kipling's subsequent reputation has changed according to the political and social climate of the age and the resulting contrasting views about him continued for much of the 20th century. George Orwell saw Kipling as "a jingo imperialist", who was "morally insensitive and aesthetically disgusting". Literary critic Douglas Kerr wrote: "[Kipling] is still an author who can inspire passionate disagreement and his place in literary and cultural history is far from settled. But as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognised as an incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with."

## The Poem

*A fool there was and he made his prayer*

*(Even as you or I!)*

*To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair,*

*(We called her the woman who did not care),*

*But the fool he called her his lady fair—*

*(Even as you or I!)*

*Oh, the years we waste and the tears we waste,*

*And the work of our head and hand*

*Belong to the woman who did not know*

*(And now we know that she never could know)*

*And did not understand!*

*A fool there was and his goods he spent,*

*(Even as you or I!)*

*Honour and faith and a sure intent*

*(And it wasn't the least what the lady meant),*

*But a fool must follow his natural bent*

*(Even as you or I!)*

*Oh, the toil we lost and the spoil we lost*

*And the excellent things we planned*

*Belong to the woman who didn't know why*

*(And now we know that she never knew why)*

*And did not understand!*

*The fool was stripped to his foolish hide,*

*(Even as you or I!)*

*Which she might have seen when she threw him aside—*

*(But it isn't on record the lady tried)*

*So some of him lived but the most of him died—*

*(Even as you or I!)*

*And it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame*

*That stings like a white-hot brand—*

*It's coming to know that she never knew why*

*(Seeing, at last, she could never know why)*

*And never could understand!*

-- **This poem is in the public domain.**

### About The Vampire

A speaker, who is talking about a relationship between a fool and a woman. The fool gives her everything, and she takes all he has before leaving him. She will never understand what he has lost. The speaker frequently connects this unfair treatment in this story to all hetrosexual relationships.

This is one of the popular poems by Rudyard Kipling, the author of The Jungle Book and “The White Man’s Burden,” that is intense despite the lack of imagery. The unusual form including: italics, brackets, em dashes, and strict use of rhyme and rhythm; creates an entertaining and angsty poem about women. While it’s clear this poem is echoing the emotions of a man who feels cheated, he hyperbolises these melancholy feelings to degrade women.

Kipling had married an American woman, Caroline, before moving with her to Vermont. There they rented as house that they called the “blessed cottage,” and it is that house that he started working on The Jungle Book. After the birth of their first child, Kipling built Caroline a house called Naulakha, but by then the love was starting to fizzle out. After moving to England, the marriage was on the rocks and Kipling wrote this poem.

About by Megalomaniac Writer

### Parody

by Mary C. Love March 27th 1899 - The New York Bookman

Reprinted in The Academy, pg 390

*A woman there was who heard a prayer*

*(Even as you and I!)*

*From flesh and bones and a lock of hair*

*(He called her the woman beyond compare)*

*But he only used her to lighten his care*

*(Even as you and I!)*

*Oh the walks we had and the talks we had*

*And the best of our heart and hand*

*Were sought by the man who pretended to care*

*He didn't-but why he pretended to care we cannot understand*

*A woman received the flowers he sent*

*(Even as you and I!)*

*Honour and faith she thought his intent*

*(But God only knows what the gentleman meant)*

*Yet a man must follow his natural bent*

*(Even as you and I!)*

*Oh the vows we spoke and the vows we broke*

*And the various things we planned*

*Belong to the man who said he was true*

*(But now we know that he was never true)*

*And we cannot understand*

*One favor she asked - but it was denied*

*(Even as you and I!)*

*In some way or another he might have replied*

*(But it isn't on record the gentleman tried)*

*Her faith in hin faltered and finally died*

*(Even as you and I!)*

*And it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame*

*That stings like a white hot brand*

*It's coming home to know he would never say why*

*Seeing at last she could never know why*

*And never understand*

## The Movie Fragment

A picture dramatization from Sir Ed Burne-Jones' famous painting, with suggestions from that world famous poem by Rudyard Kipling, each conceded a peer in the literary and world of art. This great subject handles deftly the realms of the imaginary inner circle of society. (Even as you and I) A fool there was and he made his prayer, To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair (We called her the woman who did not care) But the fool called her his lady fair (Even as you and I). Guy Temple, as "the fool there was" marries his brother's ward, his boyhood sweetheart, Emily. The young husband becomes ensnared in the toils of the Vampire (a destroyer of souls). Clandestine meetings are arranged and the cunning, unscrupulous, satanic actions of the Vampire compels the poor weakling, Temple, to falter and fall before her charms. John Temple, the other brother, determines to save the young husband when he discovers his perfidy, and to recover the jewels given the Vampire by Guy. In a dream he ... Written by Moving Picture World synopsis

* Charles Clary...Guy Temple
* Margarita Fischer...Loie - the Vampire
* Produced by William Nicholas Selig
* Cinematography by William C. Foster
* Writing Credits: Rudyard Kipling...(poem)

The film is considered lost. However, there is a bit of good news. A guy by the name "doctor kiss" posted on 6:39 PM - Feb 04, 2013 to the TapaTalk forums that he had found a fragment, just a few frames, and posted a gif:

> "*This weekend, I had the good fortune to uncover a tiny fragment of nitrate footage from the climactic scene of THE VAMPIRE, produced by Selig and released on November 10th, 1910. The fragment, rendered in its entirety as an animated .gif below, shows Margarita Fischer with wriggling asp in hand, crouching over the freshly expired Charles Clary.*
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> As incredibly brief as the footage is, I believe that this is nonetheless an interesting find, being an early cinematic representation of Edward Burne-Jones' iconic painting The Vampire, and the Rudyard Kipling verse of the same name.
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> This painting and poem of course went on to serve as inspiration for the most celebrated of all 1910s 'vamp' pictures, A FOOL THERE WAS (rel. Jan. 1915), starring Theda Bara. But what we have here is a four-years-earlier American movie treatment of the same subject matter, with this fragment very likely the earliest footage from any 'vamp' movie that is now known to exist (and most assuredly the earliest surviving footage from any American production of the type).*"*
>
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> ― Doctor Kiss
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## References

1. ↑ https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/vampire-0
2. ↑ https://megalomaniacwriter.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/lets-explore-the-vampire-by-rudyard-kipling/
3. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=c0lRAAAAYAAJ
4. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0001441/
5. ↑ https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/monsterkidclassichorrorforum/the-vampire-1910-newly-discovered-mini-fragment-t48091.html