Product Description

This edition of the poetry of Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) 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. He is often thought of as glorifying war, militarism, and the British Empire, but an attentive reading of the poems does not confirm that view. This edition reprints George Orwell's hard-hitting account of Kipling's poems, first published in 1942, and generally regarded as one of the most important contributions to critical discussion of Kipling.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25500 in Books
• Published on: 1994-01-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 928 pages

Customer Reviews

Great Work ...... and Great Value
The late 20th century's trite and unjust dismissal of much of Kipling's work on the absurd charge of being a facist, a racist and an admirer of imperialism, have kept many of the marvellous works on this collection out of the public domain. He certainly was neither of the first 2 and it is doubtful if he really was the third given the degree of criticism he rails at those who governed, especially in India.
This subsequently damaged Kipling's reputation, his popularity and his acceptability in the modern PC world. OK "IF" was rather ludicrously voted as "The Nation's Favourite Poem", but that was largely because most people simply don't know of many if any other poems in general.
The introduction to the book goes some way to providing a more balanced view of Kipling and shows these absurd charges to be nothing more than slurs.
Many, I believe, make the mistake of interpreting the venacular language used by characters in the poems as representative of Kipling's own views and turn away from the brilliance of the verse. There is also an arrogant snobbery in some attitudes to the work.
As with anyone with such a prodigious output (and there are not many), not all of the poems are of great stature, but most are highly readable, enjoyable, varied and there are some clearly great ones among them.
SO much for so very little makes this a great buy.

A truly great Briton
It is unfortunate that Kipling is erroneously derided as a Fascist, racist and imperialist. His verse is often viewed in the context of our own time, rather than the period in which it was written, and his language is measured against modern standards of political correctness. As a result Kipling is seen to be jingoistic, a relic of the Empire, and of no relevance.

This is obfuscatory. An intelligent reading of Kipling's work will reveal that he was a prodigious writer of great scope, a critic of the Empire, and a great documenter of his time. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the late-Victorian and early 20th century periods.

By jingo, there's some enjoyable poems here
The literary establishment, with its solid block of left-liberal academics, has long been (and still is) full of strange ideas. One of the strangest is the dismissal of Kipling. Well that's their loss. I'm so enjoying dipping into these 800+ pages of Kipling's poems.