Rudyard Kipling Part 4

Comparing the soldier tales and the soldier songs it is often possible, however, to miss the author's flagging, because, as we have seen, the soldier songs are the best songs, whereas the soldier tales are not the best tales. The full extent of the inferiority of Mr Kipling's verse to Mr Kipling's prose cannot, however, be missed if we compare the finer grain of Mr Kipling's prose with the poems that deal with similar themes. Read first _The Story of Ung_ (_The Seven Seas_) and afterwards the tale of the Flint Man found upon the Downs by Dan and Una (_Rewards and Fairies_). Or, to take an even more telling instance, recall the most perfect of all Mr Kipling's tales _The Miracle of Purun Bhagat_, and afterwards read the poem that is proudly set at the head of it:

"The night we felt the earth would move We stole and plucked him by the hand, Because we loved him with the love That knows but cannot understand.

"And when the roaring hillside broke, And all our world fell down in rain, We saved him, we the Little Folk; But lo! he does not come again!

"Mourn now, we saved him for the sake Of such poor love as wild ones may.

Mourn ye! Our brother will not wake, And his own kind drive us away!"

--_Dirge of the Langurs._

The poem is excellent cold craft, but leaves us precisely in the state of mind in which it found us. The story which follows it is rooted in the same idea; but, where the one is a literary exercise, the other is a supreme feat of imagination.

Here, with _The Miracle of Purun Bhagat_, the story itself and not the dirge of the Langurs, we may conveniently leave the reputation of our author. Critics of a future generation may need to apologise for including within the limits of a brief monograph a specific chapter upon Mr Kipling's verse. They will not need to apologise for its brevity.

A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RUDYARD KIPLING'S PRINc.i.p.aL WRITINGS

[Separate issues of single poems or stories have not generally been included in this list. Dates of first publication of books are given; new editions only when they involve revision of text, alteration of format or transference to a different publisher.]

Departmental Ditties and Other Verses (_Lah.o.r.e: The Civil and Military Gazette Press_). 1886. New editions (_London: Thacker_). 1888; 1890; 1898; (_Newnes_). 1899; (_Methuen_). 1904; 1908; 1913.

Plain Tales from the Hills (_Thacker_). 1888. New editions (_Macmillan_). 1890; 1899; 1907.

Soldiers Three: A Collection of Stories (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). 1888.

New edition (_London: Sampson Low_). 1890.

The Story of the Gadsbys: a Tale without a Plot (_Allahabad: Wheeler_).

N.D. [1888]. New edition (_London: Sampson Low_). 1890.

In Black and White (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). N.D. [1888]. New edition (_London: Sampson Low_). 1890.

Under the Deodars (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). N.D. [1888]. New edition (_London: Sampson Low_). 1890.

The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Tales (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). N.D.

[1888]. New edition (_London: Sampson Low_). 1890.

Wee Willie Winkie and other Child Stories (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). N.D.

[1888]. New edition (_London: Sampson Low_). 1890.

Soldiers Three: The Story of the Gadsbys: In Black and White (_Sampson Low_). 1890. New editions (_Macmillan_). 1895; 1899; 1907.

Wee Willie Winkie: Under the Deodars: The Phantom Rickshaw (_Sampson Low_). 1890. New editions (_Macmillan_). 1895; 1899; 1907.

The City of Dreadful Night and Other Sketches (_Allahabad: Wheeler_).

1890. This edition was cancelled.

The Smith Administration (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). 1891. This edition was cancelled.

The City of Dreadful Night and Other Places (_Allahabad: Wheeler_).

1891. English edition (_Sampson Low_). 1891. These were suppressed as far as possible.

Letters of Marque (_Allahabad: Wheeler_). 1891. This edition was suppressed.

The Light that Failed (_Macmillan_). 1891. New editions, 1899; 1907.

Life's Handicap, being Stories of Mine Own People (_Macmillan_). N.D.

[1891]. New editions, 1899; 1907.

Barrack Room Ballads and Other Verses (_Methuen_). 1892. New editions, 1908; 1913.

The Naulahka: a Story of West and East. By Rudyard Kipling and Wolcott Balestier (_Heinemann_). 1892. New editions (_Macmillan_). 1901; 1908.

Many Inventions (_Macmillan_). 1893. New editions, 1899; 1907.

The Jungle Book (_Macmillan_). 1894:. New editions, 1899; 1903; 1907; 1908.

The Second Jungle Book (_Macmillan_). 1895. New editions, 1899; 1908.

The Seven Seas (_Methuen_). 1896. New editions, 1908; 1913.

Soldier Tales (_A selection of stories from earlier volumes_) (_Macmillan_). 1896.

The Novels, Tales and Poems of Rudyard Kipling (_Edition de luxe_) (_Macmillan_). 1897, etc. 27 volumes have so far been issued.

"Captains Courageous." A Story of the Grand Banks (_Macmillan_).

1897. New editions, 1899; 1907.

An Almanac of Twelve Sports for 1898. By William Nicholson. Words by Rudyard Kipling (_Heinemann_). 1897.

The Day's Work (_Macmillan_). 1898. New editions, 1899; 1908.

A Fleet in Being: Notes of Two Trips with the Channel Squadron (_Macmillan_). 1898.

Stalky & Co. (_Macmillan_). 1899. New edition, 1908.

From Sea to Sea (_Macmillan_). 2 volumes. 1900. New edition, 1908.

The volumes contain also Letters of Marque, The City of Dreadful Night and The Smith Administration.

The Science of Rebellion [Pamphlet] (_Vacher_). 1901.

Kim (_Macmillan_). 1901. New edition, 1908.

Just-So Stories, for Little Children (_Macmillan_). 1902. New editions, 1903; 1908; 1913.

The Five Nations (_Methuen_). 1903. New editions, 1908; 1913.

Traffics and Discoveries (_Macmillan_). 1904. New edition, 1908.