Selected Verse

by Rudyard Kipling, Lizzy Welby (Introduction)

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

In his lifetime, Kipling was widely regarded as the unofficial Poet Laureate, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. His poetry is striking for its many rhythms and popular forms of speech, and Kipling was equally at home with dramatic monologues and extended ballads. He is often thought of as glorifying war, militarism, and the British Empire, but an attentive reading of the poems does not confirm that view.

This edition has an introduction by Lizzy Welby and the endorsement of the Kipling Society, of which Dr Welby is a Council Member.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

312 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 2016

About the author

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.

Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888). His poems include Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The Gods of the Copybook Headings (1919), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910). 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".

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. 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. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, both of which he declined.

Awarded 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."

Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer. 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. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."

Reviews

[David]

Possibly not the poet to read in a 'woke' era like this, but someone recently sent me the poem 'If' to read, which no one can deny is a wonderful piece. It's true that by 1910, the hardline imperialism that Kipling developed alongside his friendship with the arch colonial Cecil Rhodes meant that his reputation was permanently damaged. But we should not forget that this is also the man who wrote the unforgettable children's books, The Jungle Books, Just So Stories, Kim etc.,as well as some great short fiction. This contradictory nature of this erudite man is very apparent in his poetry which ranges from the gungho to the nature sensitive. Not easy to read, it has to be said, but as Lizzy Welby writes in the introduction the Macmillan edition, "In this varied selection of verses, you will undoubtedly find the Kipling that you always knew but I hope you will also find the Kipling who might just, until now, have lain hidden from you." Indeed I did.

[Selina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some were good but as a collection, a large part now seems out of date. Could use a better introduction and structure.