Departmental Ditties and Barrack Room Ballads

by Rudyard Kipling

For the modern reader of Kipling's Barrack-Room Ballads - among the most enduringly popular poems ever published in England - some explanation of their contemporary expressions and allusions and their military context is necessary if he is to appreciate them in their full glory. John Whitehead, critic and biographer who himself served with the Indian Army in Burma, has provided this in full measure in his entertaining and scholarly Introduction and comprehensive textual Notes. This Centenary Edition of the ballads is unlikely ever to be superseded.

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Fiction, Classics, Short Stories, Collections

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1892

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

[Chris Purser · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprisingly fun collection of poems, many about the foils of bureaucracy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though agree with the GR description that suggests that a modern reader benefits from some notes and explanations. I wish someone would read this for librivox. The collection would be most excellent read aloud in a proper British or Scottish accent. In any event, I'm glad to have been pushed to read some poetry from this era by a group here because I'd never have picked this up on my own. I read these in small spurts during lunch hours and hold times on phone calls and other such moments. I don't think I would have wanted to sit down and read this from cover to cover as it might have gotten overly repetitive that way.

[Jayne Cravens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never expected to like these as much as I have. I read this because I didn't have anything else to read at the time - it's in a volume in a set of books published by Blacks Reader Service Company that you see for sale at garage sales all the time, and it's my go-to for "welp, this is famous, might as well finally read it" moments. I'm a veteran of administration in foreign lands, and, wow, when it comes to silly bureaucracy, not much has changed since Kipling's time. The verses are so clever, the descriptions of scenes, even just going down a road or sitting in a room, are so rich - you see the surroundings, you hear them, you smell them. That he can make me laugh about paperwork 100 years later is a testament to his incredible wit. Yes, Kipling was a racist, expressed mostly through his colonialism, but I'm surprised no one ever mentions the far, far more common sexism - he did not at all think much of women. Neither did most men of this time (and now?). But I can acknowledge the racism and sexism and still enjoy the heck out of the works - you know, like enjoying The Ride of the Valkyrie while also knowing (and hating) Wagner's racism. My favorite? "My Rival," one of his only stories devoted entirely to women, and it is so delightful I've read it probably half a dozen times already. I may memorize it.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

For we all love the screw guns!

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprisingly fun collection of poems, many about the foils of bureaucracy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though agree with the GR description that suggests that a modern reader benefits from some notes and explanations. I wish someone would read this for librivox. The collection would be most excellent read aloud in a proper British or Scottish accent. In any event, I'm glad to have been pushed to read some poetry from this era by a group here because I'd never have picked this up on my own. I read these in small spurts during lunch hours and hold times on phone calls and other such moments. I don't think I would have wanted to sit down and read this from cover to cover as it might have gotten overly repetitive that way.

[Chuck]

Some of his best.

Ballad of east and west, Gunga Din, Mandalay, what's not to like? Kipling said he wrote his poems to the rhythms of English dancehall music (as did McCartney & Lennon decades later). Even today you can hear the music behind the prose, if you listen. He'd have made a hell of a lyricist had he gone that way.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a 1913 Doubleday edition and no doubt would benefit a great deal from notes and expansive explanations. There are places where I can get into the rhythm but I'm not even sure I'm mentally making the right sounds for a Scots-English accent.