The seven seas [Hardcover]

Rudyard Kipling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0878211136 | ISBN-13: 978-0878211135 | Publication Date: 1973

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE FIRST CHANTEY. Mine was the woman to me, darkling I found her; Haling her dumb from the camp, held her and bound her. Hot rose her tribe on our track ere I had proved her; Hearing her laugh in the gloom, greatly I loved Swift through the forest we ran; none stood to guard us, Few were my people and far; then the flood barred us— Him we call Son of the Sea, sullen and swollen; Panting we waited the death, stealer and stolen, Yet ere they came to my lance laid for the slaughter, Lightly she leaped to a log lapped in the water; Holding on high and apart skins that arrayed her, Called she the God of the Wind that he should aid her. Life had the tree at that word, (Praise we the Giver!) Otter-like left he the bank for the full river. Far fell their axes behind, flashing and ringing, Wonder was on me and fear, yet she was singing. Low lay the land we had left. Now the blue bound us, Even the Floor of the Gods level around us. Whisper there was not, nor word, shadow nor showing, Still the light stirred on the deep, glowing and growing. Then did He leap to His place flaring from under, He the Compeller, the Sun, bared to our wonder. Nay, not a league from our eyes blinded with gazing, Cleared He the womb of the world, huge and amazing! This we beheld (and we live)—the Pit of the Burning, Then the God spoke to the tree for our returning;Back to the beach of our flight, fearless and slowly, Back to our slayers he went: but we were holy. Men that were hot in that hunt, women that followed, Babes that were promised our bones, trembled and wallowed: Over the necks of the tribe crouching and fawning- Prophet and priestess we came back from the dawning! THE LAST CHANTEY. "And there was no more sea." Thus sai...

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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About the Author

Rudyard Joseph Kipling was born in the then named Bombay, India on 30th December 1865.   Aged six, he was sent to England to be educated, firstly in Southsea, where he was cared for in a foster home, and later at Westward Ho, a United Services College in Devon. A life of misery at the former was described in his story 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', whilst Westward Ho was used as a basis for his questioning the public school ethic in 'Stalky and Co'. Kipling returned to India in 1882 to work as an assistant editor for the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore. His reputation as a writer was established with stories of English life in India, published there in 1888/9. 'The Phantom Rickshaw', 'Soldiers Three' and 'Under the Deodars' are amongst these early works. Returning to England in 1889, Kipling settled in London and continued to earn a living as a writer. In 1892 he married Caroline Balestier, an American. They travelled extensively in the following four years, including a spell living in America, and it was in this time most of his enduring work was written, not least 'The Jungle Book' and 'The Second Jungle Book'. Kipling once again returned to England in 1896 and continued his writing career, although tragedy hit the family when his eldest daughter, Josephine, died in 1899. Nonetheless, in 1901 he completed 'Kim', often considered to be his best work. The following year, having settled in Sussex, he published 'Just So Stories', a book he had planned to write for Josephine. Having refused the position of Poet Laureate, which was offered in 1895, he did accept the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first English author to be so honoured. By 1910, however, Kipling's appeal was waning. His poems and stories were based on values that were perceived as outdated. There was widespread reaction against Victorian imperialism, highlighted by the incompetent management of the Boer War. When World War I came, Kipling had difficulty in adapting to the mood of the public and after his only son, John, was reported missing in action believed killed in 1915, he became very active on the War Graves Commission. After the war he became an increasingly isolated figure, although some of his best writing was to come, with 'Debits and Credits' in 1926 and 'Limits and Renewals' in 1932. Kipling died in 1936 in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Today, however, he is once again avidly read not just for the quality of his writing and storytelling, but through a renewed --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 209 pages
• Publisher: Milford House (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878211136
• ISBN-13: 978-0878211135
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,602,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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