What I find in these ballads is a profound sympathy. This edition was published in 1911 so it’s exactly one hundred years old. I have a gorgeous edition of this famous book, first published April 1892.

Rudyard Kipling is, I think, someone we think we should like only at arm’s length, through filters, with a snowstorm of disclaimers attached, using every if and but and apologising in advance with bells & whistles & hooters that yes he had some unacceptable opinions and used at least one unacceptable word fairly frequently, he was a man of his times, but, he was still, if you can squint your eyes, and in a certain light, and with the wind in the right direction, be considered a great poet. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers.' Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, 'I've just read that I am dead. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.Īwarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 '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.' Henry James said: 'Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known.' In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story his children's books are classics of children's literature and one critic described his work as exhibiting 'a versatile and luminous narrative gift'.

His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If- (1910).

Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.

Kipling ballads