Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) [Paperback]

Rudyard Kipling (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Thrift Editions | Publication Date: July 1, 1990

Treasury of 44 poems evokes stirring images of British character and attitudes at the height of the Empire. "Gunga Din," "Danny Deever," "If—," "The White Man's Burden," "The Female of the Species," many others, filled with character study, dramatic incident and rousing language New Notes to the Text. Alphabetical lists of titles and first lines.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Absent-minded Beggar
The Ballad Of East And West
The Ballad Of The 'bolivar'
The Ballad Of The Kings's Mercy
Barrack Room Ballads: Introduction
The Betrothed
Blue Roses
Boots
Cities And Thrones And Powers
The Conundrum Of The Workshops
Danny Deever
The 'eathen
The English Flag
The Female Of The Species
'fuzzy-wuzzy' (soudan Expeditionary Force)
Gentlemen-rankers
Gunga Din
Hadramauti
I Keep Six Honest Serving-men
If
In The Neolithic Age
L'envoi
L'envoi
The Ladies
The Law Of The Jungle
A Legend Of The Foreign Office
M'andrew's Hymn
Mandalay
Mother O' Mine
My Rival
Oonts
Recessional
The Sea And The Hills
The Sergeant's Weddin'
Sestina Of The Tramp Royal
The Song Of The Little Hunter
A Song To Mithras
The Story Of Uriah
Tarrant Moss
Tomlinson
Tommy [atkins]
The Vampire
The White Man's Burden
The Widow At Windsor
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 74 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (July 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486264718
• ISBN-13: 978-0486264714
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #472,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Anthologies
  • #87 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Single Authors > British & Irish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good starting point, July 7, 2000

By 

L. Guilar - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

Fifty years ago some of the poems in this book were part of the mental baggage of every adult Engish speaker. These days Kipling's reputation has taken a hammering. It's easy to brand him rascist by quoting "the white man's burden" or lines like: "he was white clear white inside" from gunga din and forgetting the last three lines of the same poem, Imperialistic, mysoginist or whatever is currently unfashionable. Even as a poet he hasn't recovered from the movement of poetry during the twentieth century from the reader to the university. You don't need critics to "explain Kipling". There's not a lot your average university critic can say about Kipling's verse, he doesn't need copious critical commentary, and since he doesn't offer the critic much hope of publication, he's been neglected or damned with faint praise: "an ability to make the commonplace memorable" Well, invest a dollar and find out for yourself. He sings. "If" is, whatever you think of the last line, full of fine advice. "In the neolithic age" is something all writers and critics should read and remember and no one summed up the life of the British private soldier better. Dover thrift continue to provide an excellent service making good, cheap editions, free of any critical clutter, available so that readers can read for themselves. The only niggle with htis book is that Kiplin does need a glossary and the glossary in this book is a little too haphazard.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction to Kipling's Poetry, August 27, 2004

By 

Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

Rudyard Kipling's poetry and prose resonated with the general public in Great Britain and America during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Later, as his patriotism and unabashed support for the British empire became viewed as outdated, his reputation faded.

It is easy to dismiss Kipling as culturally insensitive, especially if one has read little of his poetry. And admittedly, it is not difficult to find specific verses to support this contention. However, I quickly discovered that this characterization of Rudyard Kipling is incomplete, one sided, and simplistic.

The Ballad of East and West begins with the familiar lines: "Oh, East is East and West is West, and Never the Twain Shall Meet." Contrary to what these opening lines suggest, this ballad illustrates Kipling's appreciation for what we now call cultural diversity. The Ballad of East and West ends with this thought: "But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth."

In the Neolithic Age: "There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right." This nonjudgmental refrain is surprisingly modern.

The Sea and the Hills: "So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hillmen desire their Hills." Each verse in this poem proclaims the majesty and power of the great seas, sentiments widely held by the seafaring British people. And yet, each verse ends with a reminder that others, like the hillmen, equally respect their native environment.

The Betrothed: "And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a Smoke." This much quoted comical reply was made to Maggie's ultimatum, "You must choose between me and your cigar". No, this might not appeal to the modern woman. Possibly, however, The Female of the Species might go some ways in making amends with its refrain: "For the female of the species is more deadly than the male."

The Absent-Minded Beggar: "Pass the hat for your credit's sake, and pay - pay - pay." This widely popular poem was credited with the amassing of donations for the aged, destitute veterans of Britain's many conflicts.

Kipling declined most of the many honors which were offered him, including a knighthood, the Poet Laureateship, and the Order of Merit, but in 1907 he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of Kipling's verse, April 30, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

The poetry of Kipling does not have the complex ambiguity or the multivalent richness which many today associate with the highest kind of poetry. He writes a plain and clear stanza in which the meaning is open at first glance to the ' common reader'. He often tells a story and writes provides clear opinions on a subject.
Kipling is often criticized today for his championing of the
empire, for his colonial vision of the world, for his not altogether enlightened view of the role of women in society.
But these ' political issues' aside Kipling's verse often has a power and moral value. He writes about common people doing the work of the world. He sympathizes with the 'man in the ranks'. He is a great champion of the virtues of courage, loyalty and integrity.
Many of his poems have been frequently anthologized and are very well known. "East is East, West is West, and never the Twain shall meet" is one of the most famous, but the most famous, and one of the most beloved English language poems of all time is "If". It is really a kind of guide to a young person of how to be admirable in life. It is constructed as a series of conditionals, as "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs".
Another of the most famous poems written at the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee," Recessional" has as its theme in Louis Untermeyer, " man's impermanent grandeur". This poem's opening stanza too contains memorable lines exemplifying Kipling at his best.

Recessional

"God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far- flung battle line
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine-
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget- Lest we forget."

Kipling today may be somewhat neglected but he is deservedly unforgotten by many readers capable of learning from and enjoying his fine poetry.