Complete Verse [Paperback]

Rudyard Kipling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 1988

Witty, profound, wildly funny, acerbic and occasionally savage, Rudyard Kipling's poems continue to delight readers of all ages.  Included are both the familiar favorites and Kipling's lesser-known works.  This is the only complete collection of Kipling's poems available in paperback.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Witty, profound, wildly funny, acerbic and occasionally savage, Rudyard Kipling's poems continue to delight readers of all ages. Included are both the familiar favorites and Kipling's lesser-known works. This is the only complete collection of Kipling's poems available in paperback.

From the Inside Flap

Witty, profound, wildly funny, acerbic and occasionally savage, Rudyard Kipling's poems continue to delight readers of all ages.  Included are both the familiar favorites and Kipling's lesser-known works.  This is the only complete collection of Kipling's poems available in paperback.

Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; Definitive Edition edition (December 27, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038526089X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385260893
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1.6 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive collection, May 28, 2002

By 

Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Complete Verse (Paperback)

... Collections of Kipling's poems have been published many times over the years, but many of them were not complete. This collection includes many not found elsewhere. Many of his poems are about the British Army or the British Empire, but there are also poems on other topics. Some of Kipling's poems are better known than others, e.g., "Gunga Din." A few have been set to music, e.g., "Mandalay" and "Gentlemen-Rankers." In some cases, particular lines are well known such as, "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet (from "The Ballad of East and West") or "the Colonel's Lady and Judy O'Grady are sisters under their skins" (from "The Ladies). Some of the poems were concerned with the poor treatment of British soldiers for whom Kipling was a champion, including "Shillin' a Day," "Back to the Army Again," "The Last of the Light Brigade," and "Tommy" ("I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint of beer, the publican 'e up an' sez, 'we serve no redcoats here' ").

Overall, it is a good, wide-ranging collection of poetry covering an extended time period. The collection is recommended for all age groups, although some poems might have to be explained to children. The poems were written at a different time in history, and readers should be aware that some of them may express prejudices and language of that period ("for she knifed me one night, 'cause I wished she was white, and I learned about women from 'er," from "The Ladies")

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad organization still can't ruin great poetry, July 15, 1999

By 

Gabe Rosen ([e-mail]) (Monterey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Verse (Paperback)

I will admit that the organization leaves a lot to be desired - you start out with the Departmental Ditties, and the Barrack-Room Ballads and Boer war poems appear together, but elsewhere you have works from the Jungle Books and story collections like Rewards and Fairies and A Diversity of creatures arranged all anyhow. There are few annotations other than Kipling's own, and no biographical context. Some of the poems, such as the superb "Philadelphia", require that you have read the stories they were drawn from to understand. The positive side of this, though, is that this book is a gateway to less famous, but wonderful books like Rewards and Fairies, Plain Tales from the Hills, and Diversity of Creatures. But above all else the poetry is great. It is not just war and colonialism - there is tragedy, love, symbolic allegories of mankind, humorous sketches, and styles that evoke emotions and associations deftly and movingly. If you can't get the whole Kipling library (which I'd like dearly to own) this book is a great way to own all his verse at once, albeit in a disorganized way.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw, Untarnished Kipling!, April 6, 2002

By 

S. Miska (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Verse (Paperback)

Much ado has been made lately about Kipling, mainly due to a resurgence of affection for poems like The White Man's Burden. Although this has been brought on by the war on terrorism, Kipling's work will brave the tests of time granting him immortality.

Some reviewers have criticized the organization of Complete Verse. The table of contents lists all 500 or so poems in alphabetical order, and the editor provides an index of first lines. What the reader does not get is a scholar's interpretation of Kipling's prose. Although sometimes I enjoy reading another's perspective on the author's intentions, why bias my own experience with the thoughts of another critic? Much better to walk the fields of verse on a virgin path, experiencing Kipling through my own mind.

A great compilation of poetry from a splendid author. Bravo!