Most of us are familiar with Rudyard Kipling’s (1865-1936) poem “Gunga Din” Published in 1892 Gunga Din is one of Kipling's most famous poems, perhaps best known for its often-quoted last stanza,
"Tho' I've belted you and flayed you”,
“By the livin' Gawd that made you”,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"
The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a British soldier, about a native water-bearer (a "bhisti") who saves the soldier's life but dies himself. Like several others among Kipling's poems, it celebrates the virtues of a non-European while revealing the racism of a colonial infantryman who views such people as being of a "lower order". But the last line in particular suggests a deep-down unease of conscience about these racial feelings, both in the depicted soldier and in Kipling himself.
A lesser known poem by Kipling is “The Gods Of The Copybook Heading” published in 1919 after the death of Kipling’s son on the battlefields of France in World War I. The central message of the poem is that basic and unvarying aspects of human nature will always re-emerge in every society and that the values of common sense cannot be denied.
A “copybook” was a teaching aid. It was a notebook with a different well-known proverb, verse, or aphorism at the top of each page (a copybook heading). School children practiced their handwriting by copying this heading over and over again until the page was full. Kipling wrote this poem after his son was killed in World War I, a war that many Britons blamed on the greed of the bigwig industrialists whose factories profited from the war effort while in high-flown patriotic prose they promised a glorious victory and a paradisiacal future to the men who went off to be slaughtered in the trenches. In this poem Kipling criticizes those who suspended their judgment and common sense and followed suit with idiotic policy because of such rosy promises of prosperity.
This poem became more widely known in America The libertarian conservative author Glenn Beck used the last two stanzas of the poem in a video trailer for his book, The Overton Window (which was released on June 15, 2010). You should read the poem slowly and aloud. This way you will get the most meaning from he poem.
A lesser known poem by Kipling is “The Gods Of The Copybook Heading” published in 1919 after the death of Kipling’s son on the battlefields of France in World War I. The central message of the poem is that basic and unvarying aspects of human nature will always re-emerge in every society and that the values of common sense cannot be denied.
A “copybook” was a teaching aid. It was a notebook with a different well-known proverb, verse, or aphorism at the top of each page (a copybook heading). School children practiced their handwriting by copying this heading over and over again until the page was full. Kipling wrote this poem after his son was killed in World War I, a war that many Britons blamed on the greed of the bigwig industrialists whose factories profited from the war effort while in high-flown patriotic prose they promised a glorious victory and a paradisiacal future to the men who went off to be slaughtered in the trenches. In this poem Kipling criticizes those who suspended their judgment and common sense and followed suit with idiotic policy because of such rosy promises of prosperity.
This poem became more widely known in America The libertarian conservative author Glenn Beck used the last two stanzas of the poem in a video trailer for his book, The Overton Window (which was released on June 15, 2010). You should read the poem slowly and aloud. This way you will get the most meaning from he poem.
The Gods Of The Copybook Heading
As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper protestations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall.
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn.
That water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision, and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its ice field, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch.
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch.
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshiped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, they promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed they sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: 'Stick to the Devil you know.'
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: 'The Wages of Sin is Death/'
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: 'If you don't work you die.'
The Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That all is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Click here for a glossary of terms used in the poem and one person’s analysis of each stanza. I do not agree in total with the analysis, but he explanation of the Victorian terms is valuable to the reader in understanding the meaning.
There are several lines in the poem that strike me as poignant for today. First is the fact that Kipling keeps returning to the term “The Gods of the Copybook Heading”. These headings were considered common sense values that were taught to British school children, i.e. water will make you wet, fire will burn you. In essence they were black and white common sense terms that Kipling was telling us would always win out over the obfuscations the experts.
Second: To me, “So we worshiped the Gods of the Market” means that Kipling was telling us that our focus on the secular world would lead us in the wrong direction and cause us to lose our spiritual values by replacing God with government and business.
Third: I love this one — “By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul.” At the time of the poem Britain, and Western World were going through a time when Fabian Socialism on the rise. People were looking to government to take care of us and view us in the sense of a collective. By robbing the “selective” Peter to pay the “selective” Paul it is obvious to all that Kipling was warning us of the approaching class warfare that would be the result of the socialist movement and laying the groundwork for tyrannical government.
Fourth: “But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy.” There is no doubt in my mind Kipling was warning us of the hyperinflation that was on the horizon as government spending and borrowing increased to fund the wished of the socialists and communists. These two political philosophies were on the rise after WWI and would eventually lead to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany. It is also a caution for toady as we keep devaluing our dollar to cover our government’s deficit spending.
Fifth: “They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease. But when we disarmed they sold us and delivered us bound to our foe.” This one is clear. It is a take on the Biblical proverb; “And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” — Isaiah 2:4.
We have heard this many times from the left and anti-war advocates. This proverb is part of a sculpture that hangs in the entrance lobby of the United Nations Building in New York City. It is a proverb that all idealists cling to, a proverb that, while idealistic, is not possible as long as evil exists in he world. I prefer George Washington’s take on this proverb — "To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace” or the old Roman saying “Si vis Pacem Parabellum” — "If you wish for peace, prepare for war" — Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus:
Even though Kipling had lost his son in WWI he was telling us that while war wars fought for amorphous reasons are wrong we should not fear standing in defense of our principles and common values. We should stand strong in the face of those with evil intentions. If we become weak and impotent we will fall victim to our foes and those who want to do us ill.
Last: “As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man. There are only four things certain since Social Progress began: That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her mire, And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire; And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins, As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn, The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!”
This entire final stanza is a warning that we repeat the mistakes of the past. Each generation seems to forget, or ignore, the mistakes their predecessors made. They believe that if only they can do things better they will succeed with the failed policies of the past.
Take some time and read Kipling’s poem and see what meaning you derive from it. Don’t take my interpretation as a guide; after all it is based on my knowledge of history and political bias. This is why poems and art can provide us with valuable insight to our own beliefs.
There are several lines in the poem that strike me as poignant for today. First is the fact that Kipling keeps returning to the term “The Gods of the Copybook Heading”. These headings were considered common sense values that were taught to British school children, i.e. water will make you wet, fire will burn you. In essence they were black and white common sense terms that Kipling was telling us would always win out over the obfuscations the experts.
Second: To me, “So we worshiped the Gods of the Market” means that Kipling was telling us that our focus on the secular world would lead us in the wrong direction and cause us to lose our spiritual values by replacing God with government and business.
Third: I love this one — “By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul.” At the time of the poem Britain, and Western World were going through a time when Fabian Socialism on the rise. People were looking to government to take care of us and view us in the sense of a collective. By robbing the “selective” Peter to pay the “selective” Paul it is obvious to all that Kipling was warning us of the approaching class warfare that would be the result of the socialist movement and laying the groundwork for tyrannical government.
Fourth: “But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy.” There is no doubt in my mind Kipling was warning us of the hyperinflation that was on the horizon as government spending and borrowing increased to fund the wished of the socialists and communists. These two political philosophies were on the rise after WWI and would eventually lead to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany. It is also a caution for toady as we keep devaluing our dollar to cover our government’s deficit spending.
Fifth: “They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease. But when we disarmed they sold us and delivered us bound to our foe.” This one is clear. It is a take on the Biblical proverb; “And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” — Isaiah 2:4.
We have heard this many times from the left and anti-war advocates. This proverb is part of a sculpture that hangs in the entrance lobby of the United Nations Building in New York City. It is a proverb that all idealists cling to, a proverb that, while idealistic, is not possible as long as evil exists in he world. I prefer George Washington’s take on this proverb — "To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace” or the old Roman saying “Si vis Pacem Parabellum” — "If you wish for peace, prepare for war" — Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus:
Even though Kipling had lost his son in WWI he was telling us that while war wars fought for amorphous reasons are wrong we should not fear standing in defense of our principles and common values. We should stand strong in the face of those with evil intentions. If we become weak and impotent we will fall victim to our foes and those who want to do us ill.
Last: “As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man. There are only four things certain since Social Progress began: That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her mire, And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire; And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins, As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn, The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!”
This entire final stanza is a warning that we repeat the mistakes of the past. Each generation seems to forget, or ignore, the mistakes their predecessors made. They believe that if only they can do things better they will succeed with the failed policies of the past.
Take some time and read Kipling’s poem and see what meaning you derive from it. Don’t take my interpretation as a guide; after all it is based on my knowledge of history and political bias. This is why poems and art can provide us with valuable insight to our own beliefs.
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