This is a one-volume collection of Rudyard Kipling's poetry and verse, including 'Departmental Ditties'. The poems often draw on British India, soldiers, and daily life, with humor, irony, and the rhythm of ballads. They are worth listening to for their vivid characters and storytelling power.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
THE WORKS OF RUDYARD KIPLING: ONE VOLUME EDITION By Rudyard Kipling CONTENTS
VOLUME I DEPARTMENTAL DITTIES AND OTHER VERSES I have eaten your bread and salt, I have drunk your water and wine, The deaths ye died I have watched beside, And the lives that ye led were mine. Was there aught that I did not share In vigil or toil or ease, One joy or woe that I did not know, Dear hearts across the seas? I have written the tale of our life For a sheltered people's mirth, In jesting guise—but ye are wise, And ye know what the jest is worth. GENERAL SUMMARY We are very slightly changed From the semi-apes who ranged India's prehistoric clay; Whoso drew the longest bow, Ran his brother down, you know, As we run men down today. “Dowb,” the first of all his race, Met the Mammoth face to face On the lake or in the cave, Stole the steadiest canoe, Ate the quarry others slew, Died—and took the finest grave. When they scratched the reindeer-bone Someone made the sketch his own, Filched it from the artist—then, Even in those early days, Won a simple Viceroy's praise Through the toil of other men.
Readnara
