I love Kipling. He was one of my father's favorite poets, and my son now has my father's copy of his poems, which he reads aloud to his children and grandchildren.
I have always felt an affinity with Rudyard Kipling. I like to imagine the things he saw while in India and appreciate that the experience colored his writings.
His technical skill is extraordinary. That last line is sixteen monosyllables, but it flows through, and you never lose the sense of what it is saying. Then again, line 2's "When the oldest colours have faded" doesn't quite make sense. Kipling says oldest to contrast the youngest critic dying: but would the older colours fade before the later added colours, and probably long before end of the world?
I love Kipling. He was one of my father's favorite poets, and my son now has my father's copy of his poems, which he reads aloud to his children and grandchildren.
This is quite beautiful
I have always felt an affinity with Rudyard Kipling. I like to imagine the things he saw while in India and appreciate that the experience colored his writings.
A great chronicler of Things As They Are. A rare treat is his Barrack Room Ballads set to music by Peter Bellamy, available on Spotify and You Tube.
As a creative, this poem has always meant something important to me. Thank you for highlighting it.
Very interesting comment! The author of Rewards and Fairies must have been somewhat greenery-yellowy!
The fellow in Tree by Leaf would have preferred to spend his heaven painting.
Kipling was simply a good poet and an even better short story writer. I don’t like the novels. I’ve never managed to finish Kim.
Leaf by Niggle, JRR Tolkien.
Thats the one I mean!
I meant that maybe Tolkein had a vague memory of Kipling’s poem and adjusted the theology.
His technical skill is extraordinary. That last line is sixteen monosyllables, but it flows through, and you never lose the sense of what it is saying. Then again, line 2's "When the oldest colours have faded" doesn't quite make sense. Kipling says oldest to contrast the youngest critic dying: but would the older colours fade before the later added colours, and probably long before end of the world?
In time colors fade, but critics are always born anew.