RUDYARD KIPLING
Rudyard Kipling is the son of John Lockwood Kipling, successively Professor in the Bombay School of Art and Curator of the Government Museum at Lahore, India, and of Alice Macdonald, the daughter of a Wesleyan minister. He was born at Bombay, December 30, 1865. His given name commemorates the meeting-place of his parents, a small lake in Staffordshire.
In accordance with the custom dictated by the needs of health and of education in the case of white children born in India, he was taken in 1871 to England, where he stayed with a relative at Southsea, near Portsmouth. The experiences of such little exiles from the home circle are feelingly shown in "Baa, Baa, Black-sheep" and in the beginning of "The Light that Failed." When thirteen he entered The United Services College, Westward Ho, Bideford, North Devon. Here he stayed from 1878 to 1882, taking part in some at least of the happenings so well narrated in "Stalky and Co." (1899).
On leaving college in 1882 he went to Lahore, India, where he became sub-editor of The Civil and Military Gazette. In 1887 he joined the editorial staff of The Allahabad Pioneer. To these papers he contributed many of the poems and short-stories soon collected in the volumes named "Departmental Ditties" (1886) and "Plain Tales from the Hills" (1888). All of these writings come near to actual occurrences, and give a fascinating glimpse of conditions in India. In the same year of 1888 he published in India six other volumes of tales.
Leaving India in 1889, he returned to Europe via China, Japan, and the United States, sending back to the two papers travel sketches which have since been collected under the title of "From Sea to Sea" (1899).
On reaching England he found himself a celebrated man. There he met in 1891 Wolcott Balestier, an American, to whom he dedicated "Barrack Room Ballads" (1892) in an introductory poem filled with glowing tribute. In the same year he made further journeys to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
He married Caroline Balestier in 1892, the year of publication of "The Naulahka," which had been written in collaboration with her brother. The travelling continued till they settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where their unique house was named appropriately "The Naulahka." The fruit of his American sojourn was, among other writings, "Captains Courageous" (1897), a story of the Atlantic fishing banks, full of American atmosphere and characters. In the meantime, in various periodicals had appeared short-stories and poems, which were quickly put into books. One of the stories is "A Walking Delegate," which is so wonderfully accurate in the local color of Vermont as to be worthy of special mention. It forms one of "The Day's Work" group (1898). In it is seen Kipling's power of observation, which he possesses to such a remarkable degree. To this period belong those famous collections, "The Jungle Book" (1894) and "The Second Jungle Book" (1895), containing the beast stories which seem so plausible, and a book of poems, "The Seven Seas" (1896).
In 1896 the Kiplings returned to England, taking a house at Rottingdean. While England has remained his permanent home, he has continued to take journeys. During a trip in 1899 he was seriously ill in New York with pneumonia. While ill, his condition was a constant source of anxiety to all classes of people. He recovered, but his little daughter Josephine died of the same disease. One cannot fail to note the intimate touches reminiscent of her in "They," published in "Traffics and Discoveries" (1904). Another trip, in 1900, was to South Africa, while the Boer War was in progress. The results are to be found in many poems and stories about the struggle.
In late years honors have come to him. The Nobel Prize of Literature and an honorary degree from Oxford were both awarded him in 1907. He has taken some part in politics, but he continues to write, though not so prolifically as before. His more recent books are: "Kim" (1902), a vivid panorama of India; "Puck of Pook's Hill" (1906), and "Rewards and Fairies" (1910), realistic reconstructions of English history; "Actions and Reactions" (1909), a series of stories, among them "An Habitation Enforced," a rare story of the charm of English country life; and "The Fringes of the Fleet" (1916), relating to the European War. His son John has had the misfortune to be captured in the present war.
One book, "The Day's Work," deserves particular mention, as it contains some of his best stories, such as "The Brushwood Boy," and exhibits especially the three cardinal points of his philosophy of life—"Work," "Don't whine," and "Don't be afraid."
REFERENCES
Biography
Clemens: A Ken of Kipling.
Knowles: A Kipling Primer.
Criticism
Le Gallienne: Rudyard Kipling, A Criticism.
Falls: Rudyard Kipling, A Critical Study.
Hooker: The Later Work of Rudyard Kipling, North American Review, May, 1911.
NOTES TO "WEE WILLIE WINKIE"
Page [196]. Wee Willie Winkie: the name is taken from the Scotch poem of William Miller (1810-1872). Below is given Whittier's familiar version of the poem:
|
Wee Willie Winkie Runs through the town, Upstairs and downstairs, In his nightgown! Tapping at the window, Crying at the lock, "Are the weans in their bed, For it's now ten o'clock?" |
Anything but sleep, you rogue! Glowering like the moon; Rattling in an iron jug With an iron spoon; Rumbling, tumbling all about, Crowing like a cock, Screaming like I don't know what, Waking sleeping folk. |
|
"Hey, Willie Winkie, Are you coming then? The cat's singing purrie To the sleeping hen; The dog is lying on the floor And doesn't even peep; But here's a wakeful laddie That will not fall asleep." |
"Hey, Willie Winkie, Can't you keep him still? Wriggling off a body's knee Like a very eel; Pulling at the cat's ear, As she drowsy hums; Heigh, Willie Winkie! See! there he comes!" |
Wearied is the mother
That has a restless wean,
A wee stumpy bairnie,
Heard whene'er he's seen—
That has a battle aye with sleep
Before he'll close his e'e;
But a kiss from off his rosy lips
Gives strength anew to me.
"An officer, etc.": this quotation refers to the time when the holders of military rank also held social position. ayah: Anglo-Indian for "nurse." Baba: Oriental title of respect. subaltern: a commissioned officer of lower rank than captain, i.e. lieutenant. compound: an enclosure, in the East, for a residence.
[197]. Commissioner: a civilian official having charge of a department. Station: a military post. mess: a group of officers who eat together, hence the officers. rank and file: the non-commissioned officers and privates.
[198]. Afghan and Egyptian medals: it is customary for medals to be struck off in commemoration of campaigns and for them to be called after the places in which the campaigns occurred.
[199]. Hut jao: native expression equivalent to "go away at once."
[200]. Bell, Butcha: dogs' names. Butcha = butcher.
[201]. Old Adam: it is a religious belief that Adam, supposedly the first man, committed sin, the tendency to which he handed down to all men as his descendants. Hence when one does wrong it is said that the Old Adam comes out. quarters: house or rooms of an officer.
[202]. Bad Men: childish name for hostile natives. broke his arrest: an officer under arrest is his own keeper. Sahib: a term of respect, equivalent to Mister, used by East Indians toward Europeans.
[203]. twelve-two: the unit of measurement of the height of a horse is called a hand, which is equal to four inches. Hence twelve-two means twelve hands and two inches. Waler: a horse from New South Wales.
[205]. Pushto: sometimes Pushtu, the language of the Afghans.
[206]. Sahib Bahadur: Sahib = Mister. Bahadur, title of respect equivalent to "gallant officer."
[207]. Spoil-five: a game of cards. Color Sergeant: in the British army, he is a non-commissioned officer who ranks higher and receives better pay than an ordinary sergeant, and, in addition to discharging the usual duties of a sergeant, attends the colors (the flag) in the field or near headquarters. Pathans: (pronounced Pay-tán) an Afghan race settled in Hindustan and in eastern Afghanistan. double: to increase the pace to twice the ordinary; double-quick.
[208]. cantonment: (in India pronounced can-tóne-ment) part of a town assigned to soldiers. pulton: native expression equivalent to "troops."
[209]. pukka: native expression meaning "real," "thorough."
[1] The Philosophy of the Short-Story in Pen and Ink, page 72. (Longmans, Green & Co., 1888.)
[2] Ibid.
[3] Materials of Fiction, page 175. (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1912.)
[4] Materials of Fiction, page 173. (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1912.)
[5] Graham's Magazine, May, 1842.
[6] Vailima Letters, I, page 147.
[7] Krapp's Irving's Tales of a Traveller, etc. Introduction. (Scott, Foresman & Co.)