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Rudyard Kipling
Persona / Writer

Rudyard Kipling, Selected Prose & Verse

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

(If: A Father’s Advice to His Son)

A name that still echoes in the jungles of India, Rudyard Kipling turned some of the best themes of literature into epics of our modern times.

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in Bombay on 30th December 1865. The land and the people of India inspired most of his work. Kipling’s works of fiction include the much celebrated, The Jungle Book, Kim, and many short stories, including “The Man Who Would Be King”.

Here on the birth anniversary of the much-celebrated English writer, we take a look at his literary legacy by quoting some of his best works.

The Man Who Would Be King (1888)

Two British army sergeants in 19th century India look to turn their fortunes around when they decide to travel to remote Kafiristan. It’s a tough, hazardous journey, but they get there. They have rifles and seeing the effects of bullets, the locals treat them as gods.

Including the tale insanity and empire, this collection espouses some of the best works of Rudyard Kipling.

“The Son of Man goes forth to war, A golden crown to gain; His blood-red banner streams afar— Who follows in his train?” I”

Rudyard Kipling, The Man Who Would Be King

The Jungle Book (1894)

Orphaned as a baby, human-boy Mowgli is adopted by wolves, befriended by Baloo the bear, and educated in the wonders and dangers of the Indian jungle. Through the stories of Jungle Book and Mowgli, we get so many life lessons, especially on growing up without fear and parenting. Also, to stick with one’s own is another lesson to treasure.

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.”

Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book

Kim (1901)

Kim is set in an imperialistic world; a world strikingly masculine, dominated by travel, trade, and adventure, a world in which there is no question of the division between white and non-white.

Two men – a boy who grows into early manhood and an old ascetic priest, the lama – are at the center of the novel. A quest faces them both. Born in India, Kim is nevertheless white, a sahib. While he wants to play the Great Game of Imperialism, he is also spiritually bound to the lama. His aim, as he moves chameleon-like through the two cultures, is to reconcile these opposing strands, while the lama searches for redemption from the Wheel of Life.

A celebration of their friendship in a beautiful but often hostile environment, ‘Kim’ captures the opulence of India’s exotic landscape, overlaid by the uneasy presence of the British Raj.

“There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.”

Rudyard Kipling, Kim

The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

This edition of the poetry of Rudyard Kipling includes all the poems contained in the Definitive Edition of 1940. In his lifetime, Kipling was widely regarded as the unofficial Poet Laureate, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. His poetry is striking for its many rhythms and popular forms of speech, and Kipling was equally at home with dramatic monologues and extended ballads.

Some of the are here:

“We had a kettle; we let it leak:

Our not repairing made it worse.

We haven’t had any tea for a week…

The bottom is out of the Universe.”

 Rudyard Kipling, The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling

“Across a world where all men grieve

And grieving strive the more,

The great days range like tides and leave

Our dead on every shore.”

 Rudyard Kipling, The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling

“Cross that rules the Southern Sky!

Stars that sweep, and turn, and fly

Hear the Lovers’ Litany: –

‘Love like ours can never die!”

 Rudyard Kipling, The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling’s 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 United Kingdom, 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 41, 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.

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

Rudyard Kipling

Today we celebrate Rudyard Kipling’s birthday in all good spirits and also, animal spirits.

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