Contents
1 Rudyard Kipling 1
1.1 Childhood (1865–1882) . . . 1
1.1.1 Education in Britain . . . 2
1.1.2 Return to India . . . 3
1.2 Early adult life (1882–1914) . . . 3
1.2.1 Return to London . . . 4
1.2.2 London . . . 5
1.2.3 United States . . . 5
1.2.4 Devon . . . 8
1.2.5 Visits to South Africa . . . 8
1.2.6 Sussex . . . 9
1.2.7 'Peak of career' . . . 9
1.2.8 Freemasonry . . . 10
1.3 First World War (1914–18) . . . 11
1.3.1 Death of son . . . 11
1.4 After the war (1918–1936) . . . 12
1.5 Death and legacy . . . 13
1.5.1 Posthumous reputation . . . 13
1.5.2 Links with camping and Scouting . . . 15
1.5.3 Kipling's home at Burwash . . . 15
1.5.4 Reputation in India . . . 15 1.6 Bibliography . . . 15 1.7 See also . . . 16 1.8 References . . . 16 1.9 Further reading . . . 19 1.10 External links . . . 20
2 British Armed Forces 21 2.1 History. . . 21
2.1.1 Cold War . . . 21 i
2.1.2 Recent history. . . 22
2.2 Today . . . 23
2.2.1 Command organisation . . . 24
2.2.2 Weapons of mass destruction . . . 24
2.2.3 UK Joint Expeditionary Force . . . 25
2.3 Royal Navy . . . 25
2.4 Royal Marines . . . 26
2.5 British Army. . . 26
2.6 Royal Air Force . . . 26
2.7 Civilian agencies of the Ministry of Defence . . . 27
2.7.1 Royal Fleet Auxiliary . . . 27
2.7.2 Ministry of Defence Police . . . 27
2.7.3 Defence Equipment and Support . . . 27
2.7.4 UK Hydrographic Office . . . 27 2.8 Recruitment . . . 28 2.8.1 Role of women . . . 28 2.9 See also . . . 28 2.10 Notes . . . 29 2.11 References . . . 29 2.12 External links . . . 31 3 British Raj 32 3.1 Geographical extent . . . 32 3.2 Economic extent. . . 33
3.3 British India and the Princely States . . . 33
3.3.1 Major provinces. . . 34
3.3.2 Minor provinces. . . 34
3.3.3 Princely states. . . 34
3.3.4 Organization . . . 34
3.4 1858–1914 . . . 36
3.4.1 Aftermath of the Rebellion of 1857: Indian critiques, British response. . . 36
3.4.2 Demographic history . . . 37
3.4.3 Legal modernisation . . . 37
3.4.4 Education . . . 38
3.4.5 Economic history . . . 38
3.4.6 1860s–1890s: New middle class, Indian National Congress . . . 41
3.4.7 1870s–1907: Social reformers, moderates vs. extremists . . . 42
3.4.8 Partition of Bengal (1905–1911) . . . 42
3.5 1914–1947 . . . 43
3.5.1 1914–1918: First World War, Lucknow Pact . . . 43
3.5.2 1917–1919: Satyagraha, Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, Jallianwalla Bagh . . . 44
3.5.3 1920s: Non-cooperation, Khilafat, Simon Commission, Jinnah's fourteen points. . . 48
3.5.4 1929–1937: Round Table conferences, Government of India Act . . . 48
3.5.5 1938–1941: World War II, Muslim League's Lahore Resolution . . . 48
3.5.6 1942–1945: Cripps mission, Quit India Resolution, INA. . . 49
3.5.7 1946: Elections, Cabinet mission, Direct Action Day. . . 50
3.5.8 1947: Planning for partition . . . 50
3.5.9 1947: Violence, partition, independence . . . 51
3.6 Ideological impact . . . 52
3.7 Famines, epidemics, public health . . . 52
3.8 See also . . . 53
3.9 Notes and references . . . 53
3.10 Bibliography . . . 58
3.10.1 Surveys . . . 58
3.10.2 Specialised topics . . . 59
3.10.3 Economic history . . . 61
3.10.4 Gazetteers, statistics and primary sources. . . 61
4 The Jungle Book 62 4.1 Chapters . . . 62 4.2 Characters . . . 63 4.3 Adaptations . . . 63 4.4 Controversies . . . 65 4.5 See also . . . 65 4.6 References. . . 65 4.7 External links . . . 65 5 Kim (novel) 67 5.1 Plot summary . . . 67 5.2 Characters . . . 68 5.2.1 The Mavericks . . . 68 5.3 Landmarks. . . 68 5.4 Critical assessment . . . 69 5.5 Dramatic adaptations . . . 69 5.6 References. . . 69 5.7 Bibliography. . . 70 5.7.1 Editions . . . 70
5.7.2 Works of criticism . . . 70
5.8 External links . . . 70
6 The Man Who Would Be King 71 6.1 Plot summary . . . 71 6.2 Influence . . . 72 6.3 Response . . . 72 6.4 In popular culture . . . 72 6.5 Notes . . . 72 6.6 Further reading . . . 73 6.7 External links . . . 73 7 Mandalay (poem) 74 7.1 Background to the poem. . . 74
7.2 Text . . . 75 7.3 In popular culture . . . 76 7.4 Songs . . . 76 7.5 See also . . . 76 7.6 References. . . 76 7.7 External links . . . 76 8 Gunga Din 77 8.1 Background . . . 77 8.2 Adaptations . . . 77 8.3 See also . . . 78 8.4 References. . . 78 8.5 Sources . . . 78 8.6 External links . . . 78
9 The Gods of the Copybook Headings 79 9.1 Text . . . 79
9.2 External links . . . 80
9.3 References. . . 80
10 The White Man's Burden 81 10.1 Poem . . . 82
10.2 History . . . 82
10.3 Differing interpretations . . . 82
10.4 Literary response . . . 83
10.6 Notes . . . 83 10.7 References . . . 84 10.8 External links . . . 85 11 If— 86 11.1 Publication. . . 86 11.2 Text . . . 86 11.3 Reception . . . 86 11.4 In popular culture . . . 87 11.5 See also . . . 87 11.6 References . . . 87 11.7 External links . . . 87 12 Henry James 88 12.1 Life . . . 88
12.1.1 The early years . . . 88
12.1.2 The middle years . . . 90
12.1.3 The late years . . . 90
12.1.4 James the playwright . . . 91
12.1.5 James' biographers . . . 91
12.2 Works . . . 92
12.2.1 Style and themes . . . 92
12.2.2 Major novels . . . 94
12.2.3 Shorter narratives . . . 95
12.2.4 Non-fiction . . . 95
12.3 Reception . . . 96
12.3.1 Criticism, biographies and fictional treatments . . . 96
12.4 Henry James in fiction . . . 97
12.5 Notes . . . 97 12.6 Citations . . . 97 12.7 References . . . 99 12.8 Further reading . . . 100 12.9 External links . . . 102 13 Poet laureate 103 13.1 Background . . . 103 13.2 By country . . . 103 13.2.1 Canada . . . 103 13.2.2 Dominican Republic . . . 104
13.2.3 Ethiopia . . . 104 13.2.4 Germany . . . 104 13.2.5 India . . . 104 13.2.6 Iran . . . 104 13.2.7 Ireland . . . 104 13.2.8 Netherlands . . . 104 13.2.9 New Zealand . . . 104 13.2.10 Nigeria . . . 104 13.2.11 North Korea. . . 104 13.2.12 Saint Lucia . . . 105 13.2.13 Serbia . . . 105 13.2.14 Somalia . . . 105 13.2.15 United Kingdom . . . 105
13.2.16 United States of America . . . 106
13.3 References . . . 107 13.4 External links . . . 108 14 George Orwell 109 14.1 Life . . . 109 14.1.1 Early years . . . 109 14.1.2 Policing in Burma . . . 110
14.1.3 London and Paris . . . 111
14.1.4 Southwold. . . 113
14.1.5 Teaching career . . . 113
14.1.6 Hampstead . . . 114
14.1.7 The Road to Wigan Pier. . . 115
14.1.8 The Spanish Civil War . . . 116
14.1.9 Rest and recuperation . . . 117
14.1.10 Second World War and Animal Farm. . . 118
14.1.11 Jura and Nineteen Eighty-Four . . . 120
14.1.12 Final months and death . . . 121
14.2 Literary career and legacy . . . 122
14.2.1 Literary influences . . . 122
14.2.2 Orwell as literary critic . . . 123
14.2.3 Reception and evaluations of Orwell's works . . . 123
14.2.4 Influence on language and writing. . . 124
14.2.5 Museum. . . 124
14.3 Personal life . . . 124
14.3.2 Relationships and marriage . . . 125 14.3.3 Religious views . . . 126 14.3.4 Political views. . . 126 14.3.5 Social interactions. . . 128 14.3.6 Lifestyle. . . 128 14.4 Biographies of Orwell . . . 129 14.5 Bibliography . . . 129 14.6 Notes . . . 130 14.7 References . . . 130 14.8 Sources . . . 135 14.9 Diaries . . . 136 14.10External links . . . 136 15 British Empire 137 15.1 Origins (1497–1583) . . . 137 15.1.1 Plantations of Ireland . . . 138 15.2 “First”British Empire (1583–1783) . . . 138
15.2.1 Americas, Africa and the slave trade . . . 139
15.2.2 Rivalry with the Netherlands in Asia . . . 140
15.2.3 Global conflicts with France . . . 140
15.2.4 Loss of the Thirteen American Colonies . . . 141
15.3 Rise of the “Second”British Empire (1783–1815) . . . 142
15.3.1 Exploration of the Pacific . . . 142
15.3.2 War with Napoleonic France . . . 142
15.3.3 Abolition of slavery . . . 143
15.4 Britain's imperial century (1815–1914) . . . 143
15.4.1 East India Company in Asia . . . 143
15.4.2 Rivalry with Russia . . . 144
15.4.3 Cape to Cairo . . . 145
15.4.4 Changing status of the white colonies . . . 146
15.5 World wars (1914–1945) . . . 146
15.5.1 First World War . . . 146
15.5.2 Inter-war period . . . 147
15.5.3 Second World War . . . 148
15.6 Decolonisation and decline (1945–1997) . . . 149
15.6.1 Initial disengagement . . . 149
15.6.2 Suez and its aftermath . . . 150
15.6.3 Wind of change . . . 151
15.7 Legacy . . . 152 15.8 See also . . . 154 15.9 References . . . 154 15.10Further reading . . . 158 15.11External links . . . 160 16 MacDonald sisters 161 16.1 Biographies . . . 161 16.1.1 Alice . . . 161 16.1.2 Georgiana . . . 161 16.1.3 Agnes . . . 161 16.1.4 Louisa. . . 162 16.2 Further reading . . . 162 16.3 References . . . 162 16.4 External links . . . 162
17 John Lockwood Kipling 163 17.1 Biography . . . 163
17.2 Main published works . . . 164
17.3 References . . . 164
17.4 Further reading . . . 164
17.5 External links . . . 164
18 Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava 165 18.1 Early life . . . 165
18.2 A natural diplomat. . . 166
18.3 Family . . . 166
18.4 Governor General of Canada . . . 167
18.5 Russia and Turkey . . . 169
18.6 Viceroy of India . . . 169
18.7 Later life. . . 170
18.8 Dufferin and the ghost . . . 171
18.9 Arms . . . 171
18.10Honorific eponyms . . . 171
18.11References . . . 171
18.12Further reading . . . 172
18.13External links . . . 172
19 Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art 173 19.1 History. . . 173
19.1.1 Early history . . . 173 19.1.2 1900s . . . 174 19.1.3 Post-independence . . . 174 19.2 Famous alumni . . . 174 19.3 References . . . 175 19.4 External links . . . 175 20 Rudyard Lake 176 20.1 History. . . 176 20.2 Attractions . . . 177
20.3 Top Gear episode . . . 177
20.4 See also . . . 177
20.5 References . . . 177
20.6 External links . . . 177
21 Edward Burne-Jones 178 21.1 Early life . . . 178
21.2 Marriage and family . . . 179
21.3 Artistic career . . . 180
21.3.1 Early years: Rossetti and Morris . . . 180
21.3.2 Decorative arts: Morris & Co. . . 181
21.3.3 Illustration work. . . 181
21.3.4 Painting . . . 181
21.3.5 Design for the theatre . . . 183
21.3.6 Aesthetics . . . 183
21.4 Honours . . . 184
21.5 Influence . . . 185
21.6 Neglect and rediscovery . . . 185
21.7 Gallery. . . 185
21.7.1 Stained and painted glass . . . 185
21.7.2 Drawings . . . 186 21.7.3 Paintings . . . 186 21.7.4 Decorative arts . . . 186 21.7.5 Theatre . . . 187 21.7.6 Photographs. . . 187 21.8 See also . . . 187 21.9 References . . . 187 21.10External links . . . 188
22 Edward Poynter 190 22.1 Life . . . 190 22.2 Career . . . 191 22.3 Bibliography . . . 191 22.4 References . . . 191 22.5 Sources . . . 191 22.6 External links . . . 191 23 Stanley Baldwin 193 23.1 Early life . . . 194
23.2 Early political career. . . 194
23.3 Prime Minister First time: (1923–1924) . . . 195
23.4 Leader of the Opposition . . . 195
23.5 Prime Minister Second time: (1924–1929) . . . 196
23.6 Leader of the Opposition . . . 197
23.7 Lord President of the Council . . . 197
23.7.1 Disarmament . . . 197
23.8 Prime Minister Third time: (1935–1937) . . . 198
23.8.1 Rearmament . . . 198
23.8.2 Abdication of Edward VIII . . . 199
23.9 Retirement. . . 200
23.9.1 Leaving office and peerage . . . 200
23.9.2 Attitude to appeasement . . . 201
23.9.3 Letter to Lord Halifax. . . 201
23.9.4 Iron gates crisis . . . 201
23.9.5 Comments on politics . . . 202
23.10Last years and death . . . 202
23.11Legacy . . . 203
23.12Baldwin's governments as Prime Minister . . . 204
23.12.1 First Government, May 1923 – January 1924. . . 204
23.12.2 Changes . . . 205
23.12.3 Second Cabinet, November 1924 – June 1929 . . . 205
23.12.4 Changes . . . 205
23.12.5 Third Cabinet, June 1935 – May 1937 . . . 205
23.12.6 Changes . . . 206
23.13In film, television and literature . . . 206
23.14See also . . . 207
23.15Notes . . . 207
23.17External links . . . 209
24 Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art 210 24.1 History. . . 210
24.1.1 Commercial Art Section . . . 210
24.1.2 Later history . . . 211
24.2 Present. . . 211
24.2.1 The Kipling connection . . . 211
24.3 Notable alumni . . . 211 24.4 External links . . . 212 25 Amah (occupation) 213 25.1 Role . . . 213 25.2 Etymology . . . 213 25.3 Other meanings . . . 213 25.4 In English literature . . . 213 25.5 See also . . . 214 25.6 References . . . 214 25.7 Further reading . . . 214
26 National College of Arts 215 26.1 History. . . 216
26.2 Departments . . . 217
26.2.1 Department of Architecture. . . 217
26.2.2 Department of Fine Arts . . . 218
26.2.3 Department of Communication Design . . . 218
26.2.4 Department of Ceramics Design . . . 218
26.2.5 Department of Product Design . . . 218
26.2.6 Department of Textile Design. . . 218
26.2.7 Department of Musicology . . . 219
26.2.8 Department of Film and Television . . . 219
26.2.9 Department of Multimedia Arts . . . 219
26.2.10 Department of Fresco Painting . . . 219
26.3 Societies and clubs*[9] . . . 219
26.4 Lahore campus . . . 220
26.5 Rawalpindi campus . . . 221
26.6 The Student . . . 221
26.7 Foreign Linkages . . . 221
26.9 Principals . . . 222
26.9.1 Mayo School of Arts . . . 222
26.9.2 National College of Arts (1958 - present). . . 222
26.10Head of Department (HOD). . . 222
26.10.1 Notable alumni . . . 223 26.11See also . . . 223 26.12References . . . 223 26.13External links . . . 224 27 Lahore Museum 225 27.1 Collections. . . 225
27.2 Scope Of Lahore Museum . . . 225
27.3 Popular culture . . . 225
27.4 Further reading . . . 226
27.5 See also . . . 226
27.6 References . . . 226
27.7 External links . . . 226
28 Civil and Military Gazette 227 28.1 History. . . 227
28.2 Notable staff members. . . 227
28.2.1 Rudyard Kipling . . . 227
28.2.2 Mahbub Jamal Zahedi . . . 227
28.3 References . . . 227
29 The Pioneer (newspaper) 229 29.1 History. . . 229 29.1.1 Editions . . . 229 29.2 Columnists . . . 229 29.2.1 Cartoonists . . . 230 29.3 References . . . 230 30 Chums (paper) 231 30.1 History. . . 231
30.1.1 Amalgamated Press buys . . . 231
30.2 Format . . . 231
30.3 Sponsorship of youth organizations . . . 231
30.3.1 Chums Scouts & British Boy Scouts . . . 232
30.3.2 British Boys Naval Brigade / National Naval Cadets . . . 232
30.5 References . . . 232
31 Plain Tales from the Hills 233 31.1 The stories . . . 233
31.2 References . . . 234
31.3 External links . . . 234
32 Under the Deodars 235 32.1 The Education of Otis Yeere . . . 235
32.2 At the Pit's Mouth . . . 235
32.3 A Wayside Comedy . . . 235
32.4 The Hill of Illusion . . . 235
32.5 A Second-rate Woman . . . 235
32.6 Only a Subaltern . . . 236
32.7 In the Matter of a Private . . . 236
32.8 The Enlightenments of Pagett, M. P. . . 236
32.9 External links . . . 236
33 The Phantom 'Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales 237 33.1 The Phantom 'Rickshaw . . . 237
33.2 My Own True Ghost Story . . . 237
33.3 The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes . . . 237
33.4 The Man Who Would Be King . . . 237
33.5 External links . . . 238
34 Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories 239 34.1 Wee Willie Winkie . . . 239
34.2 Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. . . 239
34.3 His Majesty the King . . . 239
34.4 The Drums of the Fore and Aft . . . 239
34.5 External links . . . 240
35 From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, Letters of Travel 241 35.1 Notes . . . 241
35.2 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . 242
35.2.1 Text . . . 242
35.2.2 Images . . . 255
Rudyard Kipling
“Kipling”redirects here. For other uses, see Kipling (disambiguation).
Joseph Rudyard Kipling (/ˈrʌdjəd ˈkɪplɪŋ/ RUD-yəd
KIP-ling; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)*[1]was an
En-glish short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He wrote tales and poems ofBritish soldiersin India and stories for chil-dren. He was born inBombay, in theBombay Presidencyof
British India, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old.*[2]
Kipling's works of fiction includeThe Jungle Book(1894), Kim(1901), and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888).*[3] 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 inno-vator in the art of the short story;*[4]his children's books
are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting “a versatile and luminous narrative gift”.*[5]*[6]
Kipling was one of the most popular writers in England, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th cen-turies.*[4]Henry Jamessaid: “Kipling strikes me
person-ally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known.”*[4] In 1907,
he was awarded theNobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date.*[7] Among other honours,
he was sounded out for the BritishPoet Laureateshipand on several occasions for aknighthood, all of which he de-clined.*[8]
Kipling's subsequent reputation has changed according to the political and social climate of the age*[9]*[10]and the
resulting contrasting views about him continued for much of the 20th century.*[11]*[12]George Orwellcalled him a
“prophet ofBritish imperialism".*[13]Literary critic
Dou-glas Kerr wrote: “He [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
Eu-ropean empires recedes, he is recognised as an incompara-ble, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experi-enced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordi-nary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with.”
*[14]
1.1
Childhood (1865–1882)
Malabar Point, Bombay, 1865.
Rudyard Kipling was born on 30 December 1865 in
Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, to Alice Kipling (née MacDonald) and John Lockwood Kipling.*[15]Alice (one of four remarkableVictorian
sis-ters)*[16]was a vivacious woman*[17]about whomLord
Dufferinwould say,“Dullness and Mrs. Kipling cannot ex-ist in the same room.”*[4]*[18]*[19]Lockwood Kipling,
a sculptor and pottery designer, was the Principal and Pro-fessor of Architectural Sculpture at the newly foundedSir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Artin Bombay.*[17]
John Lockwood and Alice had met in 1863 and courted at
Rudyard Lake in Rudyard, Staffordshire, England. They 1
married, and moved to India in 1865. They had been so moved by the beauty of the Rudyard Lake area that when their first child was born they referenced it when nam-ing him. Alice's sister Georgiana was married to painter
Edward Burne-Jones, and her sister Agnes was married to painter Edward Poynter. Kipling's most famous relative was his first cousin,Stanley Baldwin, who wasConservative Prime Minister of the UK three times in the 1920s and 1930s.*[20]
Kipling's birth home still stands on the campus of theJ J School of Artin Bombay and for many years was used as the Dean's residence.*[21]Although the cottage bears a plaque
stating that this is the site where Kipling was born, the origi-nal cottage may have been torn down decades ago and a new one built in its place. The wooden bungalow has been empty and locked up for years and is currently being refurbished and converted into an art museum.*[22]Some historians
and conservationists are also of the view that the bungalow merely marks a site close to the home of his birth, as the bungalow was built in 1882, about 15 years after Kipling's birth. Kipling seems to have also said so to the dean when he visited JJ School in the 1930s.*[23]
Kipling's India: map ofBritish India. Kipling was to write of Bombay:
Mother of Cities to me, For I was born in her gate, Between the palms and the sea, Where the world-end steamers wait.*[1]
1. ^“To the City of Bombay”, dedication to Seven Seas, by Rudyard Kipling, Macmillan & Co., 1894
According to Bernice M. Murphy,“Kipling’s parents con-sidered themselvesAnglo-Indians(a term used in the 19th
century for people of British origin living in India) and so too would their son, though he spent the bulk of his life else-where. Complex issues of identity and national allegiance would become prominent features in his fiction.”*[24]
Kipling referred to such conflicts; for example: “In the af-ternoonheatsbefore we took our sleep, she (the Portuguese ayah, or nanny) or Meeta (the Hindu bearer, or male at-tendant) would tell us stories and Indian nursery songs all unforgotten, and we were sent into the dining-room after we had been dressed, with the caution 'Speak English now to Papa and Mamma.' So one spoke 'English', haltingly translated out of the vernacular idiom that one thought and dreamed in”.*[25]
1.1.1
Education in Britain
Kipling's days of “strong light and darkness”in Bombay ended when he was five years old.*[25]As was the
cus-tom in British India, he and his three-year-old sister Alice ( “Trix”) were taken to England—in their case toSouthsea, Portsmouth—to live with a couple whoboardedchildren of British nationals who were serving in India. For the next six years, from October 1871 to April 1877, the two children lived with the couple, Captain Pryse Agar Holloway, once an officer in themerchant navy, and Mrs Sarah Holloway, at their house, Lorne Lodge at 4 Campbell Road, South-sea.*[26]
In his autobiography, published some 65 years later, Kipling recalled the stay with horror, and wondered ironically if the combination of cruelty and neglect which he experienced there at the hands of Mrs. Holloway might not have has-tened the onset of his literary life: “If you cross-examine a child of seven or eight on his day’s doings (specially when he wants to go to sleep) he will contradict himself very sat-isfactorily. If each contradiction be set down as a lie and retailed at breakfast, life is not easy. I have known a certain amount of bullying, but this was calculated torture—reli-gious as well as scientific. Yet it made me give attention to the lies I soon found it necessary to tell: and this, I presume, is the foundation of literary effort”.*[25]
Trix fared better at Lorne Lodge; Mrs. Holloway appar-ently hoped that Trix would eventually marry the Holloway son.*[27]The two Kipling children, however, did have
rel-atives in England whom they could visit. They spent a month each Christmas with their maternal aunt Georgiana ( “Georgy”) and her husband at their house,“The Grange,”
inFulham, London, which Kipling was to call “a paradise which I verily believe saved me.”*[25]
In the spring of 1877, Alice returned from India and re-moved the children from Lorne Lodge. Kipling remembers, “Often and often afterwards, the beloved Aunt would ask
Kipling's England: A map of England showing Kipling's homes.
me why I had never told any one how I was being treated. Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established. Also, badly-treated children have a clear notion of what they are likely to get if they betray the secrets of a prison-house before they are clear of it”.*[25]
In January 1878, Kipling was admitted to theUnited Ser-vices CollegeatWestward Ho!, Devon, a school founded a few years earlier to prepare boys for theBritish Army. The school proved rough going for him at first, but later led to firm friendships, and provided the setting for his school-boy storiesStalky & Co.(1899).*[27]During his time there,
Kipling also met and fell in love with Florence Garrard, who was boarding with Trix at Southsea (to which Trix had re-turned). Florence was to become the model for Maisie in Kipling's first novel, The Light that Failed (1891).*[27]
1.1.2
Return to India
Near the end of his time at the school, it was decided that he lacked the academic ability to get into Oxford University on a scholarship*[27]and his parents lacked the wherewithal
to finance him,*[17]so Lockwood obtained a job for his son
inLahore,Punjab(now inPakistan), where he was Princi-pal of theMayo College of Artand Curator of theLahore Museum. Kipling was to beassistant editorof a small local newspaper, theCivil & Military Gazette.
He sailed for India on 20 September 1882 and arrived in Bombay on 18 October. He described this moment years later: “So, at sixteen years and nine months, but look-ing four or five years older, and adorned with real whiskers which the scandalised Mother abolished within one hour
of beholding, I found myself at Bombay where I was born, moving among sights and smells that made me deliver in the vernacular sentences whose meaning I knew not. Other Indian-born boys have told me how the same thing hap-pened to them.”*[25]This arrival changed Kipling, as he
explains:“There were yet three or four days’rail to Lahore, where my people lived. After these, my English years fell away, nor ever, I think, came back in full strength”.*[25]
1.2
Early adult life (1882–1914)
Kipling spent nearly a decade, from 1883-89 in India and Pakistan, working for local newspapers such as the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore and The Pioneer in Alla-habad.*[25]
Lahore Railway Station, 1880s.
Bundi,Rajputana, where Kipling was inspired to writeKim The Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, the newspaper which Kipling was to call “mistress and most true love” ,*[25] appeared six days a week throughout the year
ex-cept for one-day breaks for Christmas and Easter. Stephen Wheeler, the editor, worked Kipling hard, but Kipling's need to write was unstoppable. In 1886, he published his first collection of verse, Departmental Ditties. That year also
brought a change of editors at the newspaper; Kay Robin-son, the new editor, allowed more creative freedom and Kipling was asked to contribute short stories to the news-paper.*[5]
In an article printed in the Chums boys' annual, an ex-colleague of Kipling's stated that ..."he never knew such a fellow for ink—he simply revelled in it, filling up his pen vi-ciously, and then throwing the contents all over the office, so that it was almost dangerous to approach him”.*[28]The
anecdote continues:“In the hot weather, when he (Kipling) wore only white trousers and a thin vest, he is said to have resembled aDalmatian dogmore than a human being, for he was spotted all over with ink in every direction.” During the summer of 1883, Kipling visitedShimla(then known as Simla), a well-knownhill stationand the summer capital of British India. By then it was established prac-tice for theViceroy of Indiaand the government to move to Simla for six months, and the town became a “centre of power as well as pleasure”.*[5]Kipling's family became
yearly visitors to Simla, and Lockwood Kipling was asked to serve in Christ Church there. Rudyard Kipling returned to Simla for his annual leave each year from 1885 to 1888, and the town featured prominently in many of the stories that he wrote for the Gazette.*[5]
He describes this time: “My month’s leave at Simla, or whatever Hill Station my people went to, was pure joy— every golden hour counted. It began in heat and discomfort, by rail and road. It ended in the cool evening, with a wood fire in one’s bedroom, and next morn—thirty more of them ahead!—the early cup of tea, the Mother who brought it in, and the long talks of us all together again. One had leisure to work, too, at whatever play-work was in one’s head, and that was usually full.”*[25]
Back in Lahore, some thirty-nine stories appeared in the Gazette between November 1886 and June 1887. Kipling included most of these stories inPlain Tales from the Hills, his first prose collection, which was published inCalcutta
in January 1888, a month after his 22nd birthday. Kipling's time in Lahore, however, had come to an end. In Novem-ber 1887, he was transferred to the Gazette's much larger sister newspaper, The Pioneer, inAllahabadin theUnited Provinces. In Allahabad, he worked as the Assistant editor of The Pioneer, and lived in Belvedere house, Allahabad from 1888-89.*[29]*[30]
Kipling's writing continued at a frenetic pace; in 1888, he published six collections of short stories: Soldiers Three, The Story of the Gadsbys, In Black and White, Under the Deodars,The Phantom Rickshaw, andWee Willie Winkie, containing a total of 41 stories, some quite long. In addi-tion, as The Pioneer's special correspondent in the western region ofRajputana, he wrote many sketches that were later collected in Letters of Marque and published inFrom Sea to
Kipling in his study at Naulakha, US, 1895.
Sea and Other Sketches, Letters of Travel.*[5]
Kipling was discharged from The Pioneer in early 1889, af-ter a dispute. By this time, he had been increasingly think-ing about the future. He sold the rights to his six volumes of stories for £200 and a small royalty, and the Plain Tales for £50; in addition, from The Pioneer, he received six-months' salary in lieu of notice.*[25]
1.2.1
Return to London
He decided to use this money to make his way to Lon-don, the literary centre of theBritish Empire. On 9 March 1889, Kipling left India, travelling first to San Francisco
viaRangoon, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. He then travelled through the United States, writing articles for The Pioneer that were later published in From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, Letters of Travel.*[31]
Starting his American travels in San Francisco, Kipling journeyed north toPortland, Oregon; toSeattle, Washing-ton; up into Canada, to Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; back into the U.S. toYellowstone National Park; down toSalt Lake City; then east toOmaha, Nebraska, and on toChicago, Illinois; then toBeaver, Pennsylvaniaon the
Ohio Riverto visit the Hill family; from there, he went to
Chautauquawith Professor Hill, and later toNiagara Falls,
Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York, andBoston.*[31]
New York, and was deeply impressed. He then crossed the
Atlantic, and reachedLiverpoolin October 1889. He soon made his début in the London literary world—to great ac-claim.*[4]
1.2.2
London
A portrait of Kipling byJohn Collier, ca. 1891.
In London, Kipling had several stories accepted by maga-zines. He also found a place to live for the next two years at
Villiers street, near Charing cross (the building was subse-quently named Kipling House):
Meantime, I had found me quarters inVilliers Street, Strand, which forty-six years ago was primitive and passionate in its habits and pop-ulation. My rooms were small, not over-clean or well-kept, but from my desk I could look out of my window through thefanlight ofGatti’s Music-Hallentrance, across the street, almost on to its stage. TheCharing Crosstrains rumbled through my dreams on one side, the boom of the Strand on the other, while, before my windows,
Father Thamesunder theShot Towerwalked up and down with his traffic.*[32]
In the next two years, he published a novel,The Light that Failed, had a nervous breakdown, and met an American
writer and publishing agent,Wolcott Balestier, with whom he collaborated on a novel, The Naulahka (a title which he uncharacteristically misspelt; see below).*[17]In 1891, on
the advice of his doctors, Kipling embarked on another sea voyage visiting South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and once again India.*[17]
He cut short his plans for spending Christmas with his fam-ily in India when he heard of Balestier's sudden death from
typhoid fever, and immediately decided to return to Lon-don. Before his return, he had used the telegramto pro-pose to and be accepted by Wolcott's sister Caroline Starr Balestier (1862–1939), called“Carrie”,whom he had met a year earlier, and with whom he had apparently been having an intermittent romance.*[17]Meanwhile, late in 1891, his
collection of short stories about the British in India, Life's Handicap, was published in London.*[33]
On 18 January 1892, Carrie Balestier (aged 29) and Rud-yard Kipling (aged 26) were married in London, in the “thick of aninfluenzaepidemic, when the undertakers had run out of black horses and the dead had to be content with brown ones.”*[25]The wedding was held atAll Souls
Church, Langham Place.Henry Jamesgave the bride away.
1.2.3
United States
Rudyard Kipling's America 1892–1896, 1899.
The couple settled upon a honeymoon that would take them first to the United States (including a stop at the Balestier family estate near Brattleboro, Vermont) and then on to
Japan.*[17]When they arrived inYokohama, Japan, they
discovered that their bank,The New Oriental Banking Cor-poration, had failed. Taking this loss in their stride, they returned to the U.S., back to Vermont—Carrie by this time was pregnant with their first child—and rented a small cot-tage on a farm near Brattleboro for ten dollars a month.*[25]
According to Kipling, “We furnished it with a simplicity that fore-ran thehire-purchasesystem. We bought, second or third hand, a huge, hot-air stove which we installed in the cellar. We cut generous holes in our thin floors for its eight-inch [20 cm] tin pipes (why we were not burned in our beds each week of the winter I never can understand) and we were extraordinarily and self-centredly content.”*[25]
In this house, which they called Bliss Cottage, their first child, Josephine, was born “in three foot of snow on the night of 29 December 1892. Her Mother’s birthday being the 31st and mine the 30th of the same month, we congrat-ulated her on her sense of the fitness of things ...”*[25]
The cover ofThe Jungle Bookfirst edition, 1894.
It was also in this cottage that the first dawnings of the Jun-gle Books came to Kipling: " . . workroom in the Bliss Cot-tage was seven feet by eight, and from December to April the snow lay level with its window-sill. It chanced that I had written a tale about Indian Forestry work which included a boy who had been brought up by wolves. In the stillness, and suspense, of the winter of ’92 some memory of the
MasonicLions of my childhood’s magazine, and a phrase
inHaggard’sNada the Lily, combined with the echo of this tale. After blocking out the main idea in my head, the pen took charge, and I watched it begin to write stories about
Mowgliand animals, which later grew into the two Jungle Books ".*[25]With Josephine's arrival, Bliss Cottage was
felt to be congested, so eventually the couple bought land —10 acres (40,000 m2) on a rocky hillside overlooking the
Connecticut River—from Carrie's brother Beatty Balestier, and built their own house.
Kipling named the house Naulakha, in honour of Wol-cott and of their collaboration, and this time the name was spelled correctly.*[17]From his early years inLahore
(1882–87), Kipling had become enamored with theMughal architecture,*[34]especially theNaulakha pavilionsituated
in Lahore Fort, which eventually became an inspiration for the title of his novel as well as the house.*[35] The
house still stands on Kipling Road, three miles (5 km) north of Brattleboro inDummerston, Vermont: a big, se-cluded, dark-green house, with shingled roof and sides, which Kipling called his “ship”, and which brought him “sunshine and a mind at ease.”*[17]His seclusion in
Ver-mont, combined with his healthy “sane clean life”, made Kipling both inventive and prolific.
Gilt title of the 1890 first American edition of Departmental Ditties and Barrack Room Ballads, which containedMandalayandGunga Din.
In the short span of four years, he produced, in addition to the Jungle Books, a collection of short stories (The Day's Work), a novel (Captains Courageous), and a profusion of poetry, including the volumeThe Seven Seas. The collec-tion ofBarrack-Room Balladswas issued in March 1892, first published individually for the most part in 1890, and containing his poems "Mandalay" and "Gunga Din". He especially enjoyed writing the Jungle Books —both mas-terpieces of imaginative writing—and enjoyed, too, corre-sponding with the many children who wrote to him about them.*[17]
Life in New England
The writing life in naulakha was occasionally interrupted by visitors, includinghis father, who visited soon after his retirement in 1893,*[17]and British writerArthur Conan
gave Kipling an extended golf lesson.*[36]*[37] Kipling
seemed to take to golf, occasionally practising with the local
Congregationalminister, and even playing with red-painted balls when the ground was covered in snow.*[15]*[37]
However, wintertime golf was “not altogether a success because there were no limits to a drive; the ball might skid two miles (3 km) down the long slope toConnecticut river.”
*[15]
From all accounts, Kipling loved the outdoors,*[17] not
least of whose marvels inVermontwas the turning of the leaves each fall. He described this moment in a letter: “A littlemaplebegan it, flaming blood-red of a sudden where he stood against the dark green of a pine-belt. Next morn-ing there was an answermorn-ing signal from the swamp where thesumacsgrow. Three days later, the hill-sides as fast as the eye could range were afire, and the roads paved, with crimson and gold. Then a wet wind blew, and ruined all the uniforms of that gorgeous army; and theoaks, who had held themselves in reserve, buckled on their dull and bronzed
cuirassesand stood it out stiffly to the last blown leaf, till nothing remained but pencil-shadings of bare boughs, and one could see into the most private heart of the woods.”
*[38]
The Kiplings' first daughter Josephine, 1895. She died of pneumo-nia in 1899 aged 6.
In February 1896, Elsie Kipling was born, the couple's second daughter. By this time, according to several bi-ographers, their marital relationship was no longer light-hearted and spontaneous.*[39]Although they would always
remain loyal to each other, they seemed now to have fallen
into set roles.*[17] In a letter to a friend who had
be-come engaged around this time, the 30‑year‑old Kipling offered this sombre counsel: marriage principally taught “the tougher virtues—such as humility, restraint, order, and
forethought.”*[40]
The Kiplings loved life in Vermont and might have lived out their lives there, were it not for two incidents—one of global politics, the other of family discord —that hastily ended their time there. By the early 1890s, the United Kingdom and Venezuelawere in a border dispute involving British Guiana. The U.S. had made several offers to arbitrate, but in 1895 the new American Secretary of StateRichard Olney
upped the ante by arguing for the American “right”to ar-bitrate on grounds of sovereignty on the continent (see the
Olney interpretation as an extension of theMonroe Doc-trine).*[17]This raised hackles in the UK, and the situation
grew into a majorAnglo-American crisis, with talk of war on both sides.
Kipling in the United States (date unknown).
Although the crisis led to greater U.S.-British cooperation, at the time Kipling was bewildered by what he felt was per-sistent anti-British sentiment in the U.S., especially in the press.*[17]He wrote in a letter that it felt like being“aimed
at with a decanter across a friendly dinner table.”*[40]
By January 1896, he had decided*[15]to end his family's
“good wholesome life”in the U.S. and seek their fortunes elsewhere.
A family dispute became the final straw. For some time, relations between Carrie and her brother Beatty Balestier
had been strained, owing to his drinking and insolvency. In May 1896, an inebriated Beatty encountered Kipling on the street and threatened him with physical harm.*[17]The
incident led to Beatty's eventual arrest, but in the subsequent hearing, and the resulting publicity, Kipling's privacy was destroyed, and he was left feeling miserable and exhausted. In July 1896, a week before the hearing was to resume, the Kiplings packed their belongings, left the United States, and returned to England.*[15]
Kipling's Torquay house, with an English heritageblue plaqueon the wall.
1.2.4
Devon
By September 1896, the Kiplings were inTorquay,Devon, on the southwestern coast of England, in a hillside home overlooking theEnglish Channel. Although Kipling did not much care for his new house, whose design, he claimed, left its occupants feeling dispirited and gloomy, he managed to remain productive and socially active.*[17]
Kipling was now a famous man, and in the previous two or three years, had increasingly been making political pro-nouncements in his writings. The Kiplings had welcomed their first son, John, in August 1897. Kipling had be-gun work on two poems, "Recessional" (1897) and "The White Man's Burden" (1899) which were to create con-troversy when published. Regarded by some as anthems for enlightened and duty-bound empire-building (that cap-tured the mood of theVictorian age), the poems equally were regarded by others as propaganda for brazenfaced
imperialism and its attendant racial attitudes; still others saw irony in the poems and warnings of the perils of em-pire.*[17]
Take up the White Man's burden— Send forth the best ye breed—
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need; To wait, in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child. —The White Man's Burden*[1]
1. ^ Kipling, Rudyard. 1899. The White Man's Burden. Published simultaneously in The Times, London, and McClure's Maga-zine (U.S.) 12 February 1899
There was also foreboding in the poems, a sense that all could yet come to naught.*[41]
Far-called, our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire: Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one withNinevehandTyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet. Lest we forget—lest we forget! —Recessional*[1]
1. ^ Kipling, Rudyard. 1897. Recessional. Published in The Times, London, July 1897 A prolific writer during his time in Torquay, he also wrote Stalky & Co., a collection ofschool stories(born of his ex-perience at theUnited Services CollegeinWestward Ho!) whose juvenile protagonists displayed a know-it-all, cyni-cal outlook on patriotism and authority. According to his family, Kipling enjoyed reading aloud stories from Stalky & Co. to them, and often went into spasms of laughter over his own jokes.*[17]
1.2.5
Visits to South Africa
In early 1898 the Kiplings travelled to South Africa for their winter holiday, thus beginning an annual tradition which (excepting the following year) was to last until 1908. They always stayed in“The Woolsack”,a house onCecil Rhodes' estate atGroote Schuur(and now a student residence for the University of Cape Town); it was within walking distance of Rhodes' mansion.*[42]
With his new reputation as Poet of the Empire, Kipling was warmly received by some of the most influential politicians of theCape Colony, including Rhodes, SirAlfred Milner, andLeander Starr Jameson. Kipling cultivated their friend-ship and came to admire the men and their politics. The pe-riod 1898–1910 was crucial in the history of South Africa and included the Second Boer War(1899–1902), the en-suing peace treaty, and the 1910 formation of the Union of South Africa. Back in England, Kipling wrote poetry
H.A. Gwynne, Julian Ralph, Perceval Landon, and Rudyard Kipling in South Africa, 1900–1901.
in support of the British cause in the Boer War and on his next visit to South Africa in early 1900, he became a correspondent for The Friend newspaper inBloemfontein, which had been commandeered byLord Robertsfor British troops.*[43]
Although his journalistic stint was to last only two weeks, it was Kipling's first work on a newspaper staff since he left The Pioneer inAllahabadmore than ten years earlier.*[17]
At The Friend he made lifelong friendships withPerceval Landon,H. A. Gwynneand others.*[44]He also wrote
arti-cles published more widely expressing his views on the con-flict.*[45]Kipling penned an inscription for theHonoured
Dead Memorial(Siege memorial) in Kimberley.
During this period Kipling travelled throughout South Africa and told stories of these places through his poetry, such as the well known poem“Lichtenberg”which relates the story of a combatant and his journey towards death in a foreign land. Trooper Aberline’s sacrifice was to have an impact on the Boers and his legacy went far beyond his rusting cross in the Lichtenburg cemetery which lies close to that of Edith Mathews.*[46]
1.2.6
Sussex
In 1897, Kipling moved from Torquay to Rottingdean, East Sussex; first to North End House and later to The Elms.*[47]In 1902 Kipling boughtBateman's, a house built
in 1634 and located in ruralBurwash, East Sussex, England. Bateman's was Kipling's home from 1902 until his death in 1936.*[48]
The house, along with the surrounding buildings, the mill and 33 acres (130,000 m2) was purchased for £9,300. It
had no bathroom, no running water upstairs and no elec-tricity, but Kipling loved it: “Behold us, lawful owners of a grey stone lichened house—A.D. 1634 over the door— beamed, panelled, with old oak staircase, and all untouched and unfaked. It is a good and peaceable place. We have loved it ever since our first sight of it.”(from a November 1902 letter).*[49]*[50]
In the non-fiction realm he became involved in the debate over the British response to the rise in German naval power known as the Tirpitz Plan to build a fleet to challenge the Royal Navy, publishing a series of articles in 1898 which were collected as A Fleet in Being. On a visit to the United States in 1899, Kipling and Josephine developed pneumo-nia, from which she eventually died.
1.2.7
'Peak of career'
“He sat in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammeh, on her old platform, opposite the old Ajaibgher, the Won-der House, as the natives called theLahore Museum.”
-Kim
In the wake of his daughter's death, Kipling concentrated on collecting material for what would becomeJust So Stories for Little Children. That work was published in 1902, the year afterKimwas first issued.*[51]
The first decade of the 20th century saw Kipling at the height of his popularity. In 1906 he wrote the song “Land of our Birth, We Pledge to Thee”. Kipling wrote twoscience
fictionshort stories, With the Night Mail (1905) and As Easy As A. B. C (1912), both set in the 21st century in Kipling's
Aerial Board of Controluniverse. These read like modern
hard science fiction,*[52]and introduced the literary
tech-nique known as indirect exposition, which would later be-come one ofHeinlein'strademarks.*[51]
In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prizefor Literature. The prize citation said: “In consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author.”Nobel prizes had been established in 1901 and Kipling was the first English-language recipient. At the award ceremony inStockholm
on 10 December 1907, the Permanent Secretary of the
Swedish Academy, Carl David af Wirsén, praised both Kipling and three centuries ofEnglish literature:
The Swedish Academy, in awarding the No-bel Prize in Literature this year to Rudyard Kipling, desires to pay a tribute of homage to the literature of England, so rich in manifold glories, and to the greatest genius in the realm of narrative that that country has produced in our times.*[53]
“Book-ending”this achievement was the publication of two connected poetry and story collections:Puck of Pook's Hill (1906), andRewards and Fairies(1910). The latter con-tained the poem "If—". In a 1995BBCopinion poll, it was voted the UK's favourite poem.*[54]This exhortation
to self-control and stoicism is arguably Kipling's most fa-mous poem.*[54]
A left-facing swastika in 1911, a symbol of good luck.
Many older editions of Rudyard Kipling's books have a
swastika printed on their covers associated with a picture of an elephant carrying a lotus flower, reflecting the influ-ence of Indian culture. Kipling's use of the swastika was based on the Indian sun symbol conferring good luck and theSanskritword meaning “fortunate”or “well-being” .*[55]
In a note to Edward Bok written after the death of Lock-wood Kipling in 1911, Rudyard said: “I am sending with this for your acceptance, as some little memory of my fa-ther to whom you were so kind, the original of one of the plaques that he used to make for me. I thought it being the Swastika would be appropriate for your Swastika. May it bring you even more good fortune.”*[55]He used the
swastika symbol in both right- and left-facing orientations, and it was in general use at the time.*[56]*[57]
Such was Kipling's popularity that he was asked by his friendMax Aitkento intervene in the1911 Canadian elec-tionon behalf of the Conservatives.*[58]On 7 September
1911, theMontreal Daily Starnewspaper published a front-page appeal to all Canadians against the reciprocity agree-ment with the United States by Kipling who wrote: “It is her own soul that Canada risks today. Once that soul is pawned for any consideration, Canada must inevitably con-form to the commercial, legal, financial, social and ethical standards which will be imposed on her by the sheer admit-ted weight of the Uniadmit-ted States.”*[58]Over the next week,
Kipling's appeal was reprinted in every English newspaper in Canada, and is credited with helping to turn Canadian public opinion against the Liberal government that signed the reciprocity agreement.*[58]
Kipling sympathised with the anti-Home Rule stance of
Irish Unionists. He was friends withEdward Carson, the Dublin-born leader of Ulster Unionism, who raised the
Ulster Volunteers to oppose “Home Rule”in Ireland. Kipling wrote the poem “Ulster”in 1912 reflecting this. Kipling was a staunch opponent ofBolshevism, a position which he shared with his friendHenry Rider Haggard. The two had bonded upon Kipling's arrival in London in 1889 largely on the strength of their shared opinions, and they remained lifelong friends.
Many have wondered why he was never madePoet Laure-ate. Some claim that he was offered the post during the
interregnumof 1892–96 and turned it down.
1.2.8
Freemasonry
According to the English magazine Masonic Illustrated, Kipling became a Freemason in about 1885, before the usual minimum age of 21.*[59]He was initiated intoHope
and Perseverance Lodge No. 782inLahore. He later wrote toThe Times,“I was Secretary for some years of the Lodge
. . . , which included Brethren of at least four creeds. I was entered [as an Apprentice] by a member fromBrahmo So-maj, aHindu, passed [to the degree of Fellow Craft] by a
Mohammedan, and raised [to the degree of Master Mason] by an Englishman. OurTylerwas anIndian Jew.”Kipling received not only the three degrees of Craft Masonry, but also the side degrees ofMark Master Masonand Royal Ark Mariner.*[60]
Kipling so loved his masonic experience that he memori-alised its ideals in his famous poem, “The Mother Lodge” ,*[61]and used the fraternity and its symbols as vital plot
devices in his novella,The Man Who Would Be King.
1.3 First World War (1914–18)
At the beginning of World War I, like many other writ-ers, Kipling wrote pamphlets and poems which enthusiasti-cally supported the UK's war aims of restoring Belgium af-ter that kingdom had been occupied by Germany together with more generalised statements that Britain was standing up for the cause of good. In September 1914, Kipling was asked by the British government to write propaganda, an of-fer that he immediately accepted.*[62]Kipling's pamphlets
and stories were very popular with the British people during the war with his major themes being glorifying the British military as the place for heroic men to be, German atroci-ties against Belgian civilians and the stories of women being brutalized by a horrific war unleashed by Germany, yet sur-viving and triumphing in spite of their suffering.*[62]
Kipling was enraged by reports of the Rape of Belgium
together with the sinking of theRMS Lusitania in 1915, which he saw as a deeply inhumane act, which led him to see the war as a crusade for civilization against bar-barism.*[63]In a 1915 speech Kipling declared that“There
was no crime, no cruelty, no abomination that the mind of men can conceive of which the German has not perpe-trated, is not perpetrating, and will not perpetrate if he is allowed to go on...Today, there are only two divisions in the world...human beings and Germans.”*[63]
Alongside his passionate antipathy towards Germany, Kipling was privately deeply critical of how the war was fought by the British Army as opposed to the war itself, which he ardently supported, complaining as early as Octo-ber 1914 that Germany should have been defeated by now, and something must be wrong with the British Army.*[64]
Kipling, who was shocked by the heavy losses that the BEF had taken by the autumn of 1914 blamed the entire pre-war generation of British politicians, who he argued had failed to learn the lessons of the Boer War and as a result, thou-sands of British soldiers were now paying with their lives for their failure in the fields of France and Belgium.*[64]
Kipling had scorn for those men who shirked duty in the First World War. In “The New Army in Training”*[65]
(1915), Kipling concluded the piece by saying: This much we can realise, even though we are so close to it, the old safe instinct saves us from triumph and exultation. But what will be the position in years to come of the young man who has deliberately elected to outcaste himself from this all-embracing brotherhood? What of his family, and, above all, what of his descen-dants, when the books have been closed and the last balance struck of sacrifice and sorrow in ev-ery hamlet, village, parish, suburb, city, shire, district, province, and Dominion throughout the Empire?
1.3.1
Death of son
Kipling's sonJohndied in the First World War, at theBattle of Loosin September 1915, at age 18. John had initially wanted to join the Royal Navy, but having had his applica-tion turned down after a failed medical examinaapplica-tion due to poor eyesight, he opted to apply for military service as an Army officer. But again, his eyesight was an issue during the medical examination. In fact, he tried twice to enlist, but was rejected. His father had been lifelong friends with
Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British Army, and colonel of the Irish Guards, and at Rudyard's request, John was accepted into theIrish Guards.*[62]
He was sent to Loos two days into the battle in a reinforce-ment contingent. He was last seen stumbling through the mud blindly, screaming in agony after an exploding shell had ripped his face apart. A body identified as his was not found until 1992, although that identification has been chal-lenged.*[66]*[67]
After his son's death, Kipling wrote, “If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied.”It is specu-lated that these words may reveal his feelings of guilt at his role in getting John a commission in the Irish Guards.*[68]
Others, such as English professor Tracy Bilsing, contend that the line is referring to Kipling's disgust that British lead-ers failed to learn the lessons of the Boer War, and were not prepared for the struggle with Germany in 1914 with the “lie”of the“fathers”being that the British Army was
pre-pared for any war before 1914 when it was not.*[69]
John's death has been linked to Kipling's 1916 poem "My Boy Jack", notably in the playMy Boy Jack and its sub-sequenttelevision adaptation, along with the documentary Rudyard Kipling: A Remembrance Tale. However, the poem was originally published at the head of a story about theBattle of Jutlandand appears to refer to a death at sea;
the 'Jack' referred to is probably a generic 'Jack Tar'.*[70]
Kipling was said to help assuage his grief over the death of his son through reading the novels ofJane Austenaloud to his wife and daughter.*[71]
During the war, he wrote a booklet The Fringes of the Fleet*[72]containing essays and poems on various nautical
subjects of the war. Some of the poems were set to music by English composerEdward Elgar.
Kipling became friends with a French soldier whose life had been saved in the First World War when his copy of Kim, which he had in his left breast pocket, stopped a bullet. The soldier presented Kipling with the book (with bullet still embedded) and his Croix de Guerre as a token of gratitude. They continued to correspond, and when the soldier, Mau-rice Hammoneau, had a son, Kipling insisted on returning the book and medal.*[73]
On 1 August 1918, a poem—"The Old Volunteer” —ap-peared under his name inThe Times. The next day he wrote to the newspaper to disclaim authorship, and a correction appeared. Although The Times employed a private detec-tive to investigate (and the detecdetec-tive appears to have sus-pected Kipling himself of being the author), the identity of the hoaxer was never established.*[74]
1.4 After the war (1918–1936)
Partly in response to John's death, Kipling joined Sir
Fabian Ware's Imperial War Graves Commission (now the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission), the group re-sponsible for the garden-like British war graves that can be found to this day dotted along the formerWestern Frontand all the other locations around the world where troops of the British Empire lie buried. His most significant contribution to the project was his selection of the biblical phrase“Their Name Liveth For Evermore”(Ecclesiasticus44.14, KJV) found on theStones of Remembrancein larger war ceme-teries and his suggestion of the phrase“Known unto God” for the gravestones of unidentified servicemen. He chose the inscription “The Glorious Dead”on theCenotaph, Whitehall, London. He also wrote a two-volume history of theIrish Guards, his son's regiment, that was published in 1923 and is considered to be one of the finest examples of regimental history.*[75]
Kipling's moving short story, “The Gardener”, depicts visits to the war cemeteries, and the poem "The King's Pil-grimage" (1922) depicts a journey whichKing George V
made, touring the cemeteries and memorials under con-struction by the Imperial War Graves Commission. With the increasing popularity of the automobile, Kipling be-came a motoring correspondent for the British press, and wrote enthusiastically of his trips around England and
Kipling, aged 60, on the cover ofTime magazine, 27 September 1926.
abroad, even though he was usually driven by a chauffeur. After the war, Kipling was skeptical about the Fourteen Pointsand theLeague of Nations, but he had great hopes that the United States would abandon isolationism and that the post-war world would be dominated by an Anglo-French-American alliance.*[76] Kipling hoped that the
United States would take on a League of Nations mandate for Armenia as the best way of preventing isolationism, and hoped that Theodore Roosevelt, whom Kipling admired, would once again become president.*[76]Kipling was
sad-dened by Roosevelt's death in 1919, believing that his friend was the only American politician capable of keeping the United States in the “game”of world politics.*[77]
In 1920 Kipling co-founded the Liberty League with
HaggardandLord Sydenham. This short-lived enterprise focused on promoting classic liberal ideals as a response to the rising power of Communist tendencies within Great Britain, or, as Kipling put it, “to combat the advance of Bolshevism”.*[78]*[79]In 1922 Kipling, who had made
reference to the work ofengineersin some of his poems, such as“The Sons of Martha”,“Sappers”, and“McAn-drew's Hymn”,*[80] and in other writings such as short
story anthologies, for instance The Day's Work,*[81]was
asked byUniversity of Toronto civil engineeringprofessor
dignified obligation and ceremony for graduating engineer-ing students. Kiplengineer-ing was enthusiastic in his response and shortly produced both, formally entitled "The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer". Today, engineering graduates all across Canada are presented with aniron ringat the cere-mony as a reminder of their obligation to society.*[82]*[83]
In 1922 Kipling also becameLord Rector of St Andrews Universityin Scotland, a three-year position. Kipling, who was afrancophile, argued very strongly for an Anglo-French alliance to uphold the peace, calling Britain and France in 1920 the“twin fortresses of European civilization”.*[84]
Along the same lines, Kipling repeatedly warned against re-vising theTreaty of Versaillesin Germany's favor, which he predicated would lead to a new world war.*[84]An admirer
ofRaymond Poincaré, Kipling was one of the few British intellectuals who supported the FrenchOccupation of the Ruhrin 1923 at a time when the British government and most public opinion was against the French position.*[85]
In contrast to the popular British view of Poincaré as a cruel bully intent on impoverishing Germany by seeking unrea-sonable reparations, Kipling argued that Poincaré was only rightfully trying to preserve France as a great power in the face of an unfavorable situation.*[85]Kipling argued that
even before 1914 Germany's larger economy and birthrate had made that country stronger than France, that with much of France devastated by the war and the French suffering heavy losses that the low French birthrate would have trou-ble replacing while Germany was mostly undamaged and with a higher birth rate, that it was madness for Britain to seek to pressure France to revise Versailles in Germany's favor.*[85] In 1924, Kipling was opposed to the Labour
government ofRamsay MacDonaldas “Bolshevism with-out bullets”, but believing that Labour was a Communist front organisation he took the view that “excited orders and instructions from Moscow”would expose Labour as such an organisation to the British people.*[86]Kipling's
views were on the right and though he admiredBenito Mus-solinito a certain extent for a time in the 1920s, Kipling was againstfascism, writing thatOswald Mosleywas“a bounder and an arriviste"; by 1935 he called Mussolini a deranged and dangerous egomaniac and in 1933 wrote “The Hit-lerites are out for blood”.*[87]
Once theNaziscame to power and usurped the swastika, until that point a popular symbol of luck and success in the Western world, Kipling ordered that it should no longer adorn his books.*[55]In 1934 he published a short story in
Strand Magazine,“Proofs of Holy Writ”, which postulated thatWilliam Shakespearehad helped to polish the prose of theKing James Bible.*[88]Less than one year before his
death Kipling gave a speech (titled“An Undefended Island” ) toThe Royal Society of St Georgeon 6 May 1935 warning of the danger whichNazi Germanyposed to Britain.*[89]
Covers of two of Kipling's books from 1919 (l) and 1930 (r) show-ing the removal of the swastika
1.5
Death and legacy
Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a
perforated duodenal ulcer.*[90]*[91]Kipling's death had in
fact previously beenincorrectly announcedin a magazine, to which he wrote, “I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers.”*[92]
The pallbearers at the funeral included Kipling's cousin, the UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and the marble casket was covered by aUnion flag.*[93]Kipling was
cre-mated atGolders Green Crematorium, northwest London, and his ashes were buried in Poets' Corner, part of the South Transept ofWestminster Abbey, next to the graves ofCharles DickensandThomas Hardy.*[93]
In 2010 the International Astronomical Union approved that a crater on the planetMercurywould be named after Kipling—one of ten newly discovered impact craters ob-served by theMESSENGERspacecraft in 2008–9.*[94]In
2012, an extinct species of crocodile,Goniopholis kiplingi, was named in his honour, “in recognition for his enthusi-asm for natural sciences”.*[95]More than 50 unpublished
poems by Kipling were released for the first time in March 2013.*[96]
1.5.1
Posthumous reputation
Various writers, such asEdmund Candler, were strongly in-fluenced by Kipling's writing. Kipling's stories for adults re-main in print and have garnered high praise from writers as different asPoul Anderson,Jorge Luis Borges, andRandall Jarrellwho wrote that,“After you have read Kipling's fifty or seventy-five best stories you realize that few men have written this many stories of this much merit, and that very few have written more and better stories.”*[97]
