After Rudyard Kipling came to fame in the 1890s with poems such as "Mandalay", "Tommy" and "The White Man's Burden", he was increasingly associated with jingoism and imperialism. Indeed, his most popular poems reflect a sense of glamour and excitement about war and Kipling himself was rather open about his anti-liberalism. When the outbreak of the First World War was imminent, Kipling manifested his militarist inclination in his poem "For All We Have and Are", which can essentially be summed up as a public call to arms.
The tone in Kipling's poetry changed towards "a new air of
sadness and loss" (Keating 199) when his 18 year-old only son John was reported wounded and missing at the Battle of Loos in 1915 and his body was never recovered. While Kipling shared this fate with many other parents at the time, the irony - and tragedy - lies in the fact that Kipling himself had pulled strings to get his son a commission in the Irish Guards after the boy's extremely poor eyesight had prevented his initial attempts at enlisting.
Sadly, the poems that dealt with this bereavement never received as
much attention as his early verse and were considered "synthetic", having a "dulling effect" (Wilson 63). One of these poems is "The Children", published in 1918 in his last collection of verse "A Diversity of Creatures".
Taking "The Children" as an example, the aim of this research paper here is to demonstrate a different, non-imperialist and elegiac side of Kipling. Furthermore, it will be examined in how far the accusations of low quality are justified and whether this automatically results in a dull poem.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Formal Analysis
3. Rhetoric and Stylistic Devices
3.1 Imagery
3.1.1 Biblical Allusions
3.1.2 Trade Imagery
3.1.3 War Imagery
4. Elegiac Aspects
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This research paper aims to provide a critical re-evaluation of Rudyard Kipling's 1918 poem "The Children," shifting the focus from his established reputation as a jingoistic writer toward a more nuanced understanding of his elegiac and empathetic perspective on the losses of the First World War.
- Analysis of Kipling's transition from imperialist verse to elegiac poetry.
- Evaluation of the poem's formal structure, including rhythm and internal rhymes.
- Interpretation of the poem's complex network of biblical and economic metaphors.
- Discussion of how graphic war imagery is employed to convey parental grief and trauma.
- Assessment of the validity of contemporary critical accusations regarding the poem's artistic quality.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.3 War Imagery
War is a constant reference throughout the poem and the author is not afraid to use it to "represent the monstrous powers that in this war are destroying mere boys" (Parry 132-33). This is a significant change in Kipling's attitude towards war, compared to another theme-related poem of his called "My Boy Jack". This question-answer ballad is not about his own son but a soldier who died at sea. There is no explicit mention of the war, but the parent, who keeps asking about news of his boy, is supposed to be comforted by the fact that Jack "did not shame his kind" (l. 12) and supposed to "hold your head up all the more"(l. 14).
The speaker in "The Children" on the contrary leaves no room for patriotic pride. Any glorious illusions about the war are shattered directly: Nor was their agony brief, or once only imposed on them. The wounded, the war-spent, the sick received no exemption (ll. 16-17). Not only did they suffer, but their suffering was lengthy and repeated and there were no exceptions. The line "Whither they mirthfully hastened as jostling for honour" (l. 14) reminds us of how young the soldiers still were. Children often go about things in a mirthful way because they are too naïve to recognise danger or the potential consequences of their actions. "Hastened" reflects impatience, which is also a child's attribute. They were fighting under the pretence of achieving honour for their parents and country, when in reality they did not know what they were doing.
The last stanza deals with the "visualisation of the dead men's flesh" (Keating 199): By the heart-shaking jests of Decay where it lolled on the wires― To be blanched or gay-painted by fumes― to be cindered by fires― To be senselessly tossed and retossed in stale mutilation From crater to crater. For this we shall take expiation.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the historical and personal context of Rudyard Kipling's writing, specifically focusing on the shift in his poetic tone following the loss of his son in World War I.
2. Formal Analysis: This section examines the stylistic properties of "The Children," focusing on the poem's rhythm, vocabulary, and rhyming structure to determine if its perceived lack of fluency is justified.
3. Rhetoric and Stylistic Devices: This comprehensive chapter provides an in-depth reading of the imagery within the poem, breaking it down into biblical, economic, and war-related metaphors.
3.1 Imagery: An introduction to the symbolic functions of the poem's central imagery.
3.1.1 Biblical Allusions: An analysis of how religious language is used to frame the parents' grief and the soldiers' suffering.
3.1.2 Trade Imagery: An exploration of economic metaphors used to critique the treatment of soldiers as goods within a military machine.
3.1.3 War Imagery: A discussion of how the author uses graphic descriptions of the battlefield to shatter illusions of patriotic glory.
4. Elegiac Aspects: This chapter defines the parameters of the elegy and evaluates whether "The Children" functions as a traditional poem of mourning or meditation.
5. Conclusion: The final chapter synthesizes the previous findings to argue that the poem's true value lies in its profound empathetic quality despite its formal imperfections.
Keywords
Rudyard Kipling, The Children, World War I, Elegy, War Poetry, Biblical Allusion, Imperialism, Parental Grief, Literary Analysis, Modernism, Mourning, Military History, Verse Analysis, Metaphor, Commemoration.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this research paper?
This paper provides a critical analysis of Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Children," specifically focusing on how it departs from his earlier, imperialist-leaning work to express profound personal and collective grief regarding World War I.
What central themes are explored?
The core themes include the loss of innocence in war, the intersection of religion and conflict, the critique of political and military statecraft, and the nature of mourning.
What is the main objective of the author?
The paper aims to demonstrate that "The Children" represents a non-imperialist, elegiac side of Kipling and to assess whether contemporary criticisms of its artistic quality are justified.
Which methodology is applied in this analysis?
The author uses a literary and formalistic approach, analyzing rhetoric, stylistic devices, rhythm, imagery, and thematic content within the context of contemporary criticism and definitions of the elegy.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The main body breaks down the poem into its formal structure, its use of biblical and economic metaphors, its depictions of war, and its generic classification as an elegy.
Which terms best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as war poetry, elegiac, biblical allusion, and critical re-evaluation of Kipling.
How does the author interpret the term "Judgement" in the poem?
The author interprets it on two levels: as the misguided judgment of parents who sent their children to war, and as the biblical concept of final judgment for one's actions.
Why does the author argue that "The Children" fails as a traditional elegy?
The author argues it fails because it lacks a specific lament for an individual, offers little to no final consolation, and leaves the parents' central question about the return of their children unanswered.
- Citar trabajo
- Cordula Siemon (Autor), 2006, Elegiac Aspects and Biblical Imagery in Rudyard Kipling's "The Children", Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/157028
