Given the parlous state of our nation in these troubled times, I thought we all might benefit from a reminder that all our worldly power, and energies, and ambitions, will eventually lead to our decline and fall - just as they have always done in human history. Only if we "lift our eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh our help" will we learn humility and a better way.
Kipling put it well in his poem "Recessional". It was written for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, when the British Empire was at its zenith. We aren't an Empire, but we're nonetheless guilty of just as much hubris in presuming that what we've built in this country cannot be destroyed. Right now, it's being undone before our very eyes, largely due to our own folly in allowing things to get to that point. I think we, too, need to be reminded of the passing nature of our lives and times, "lest we forget".
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word—
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
You might also enjoy contemporary commentary on the poem when it was first published.
Peter
Whether the State can loose and bind
ReplyDeleteIn Heaven as well as on Earth:
If it be wiser to kill mankind
Before or after the birth--
These are matters of high concern
Where State-kept schoolmen are;
But Holy State (we have lived to learn)
Endeth in Holy War.
Whether The People be led by The Lord,
Or lured by the loudest throat:
If it be quicker to die by the sword
Or cheaper to die by vote--
These are things we have dealt with once,
(And they will not rise from their grave)
For Holy People, however it runs,
Endeth in wholly Slave.
Whatsoever, for any cause,
Seeketh to take or give
Power above or beyond the Laws,
Suffer it not to live!
Holy State or Holy King--
Or Holy People's Will--
Have no truck with the senseless thing.
Order the guns and kill!
Saying --after--me:--
Once there was The People--Terror gave it birth;
Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth
Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, 0 ye slain!
Once there was The People--it shall never be again!
by the same hand.
On point, no question. The bigger question is what will be the response.
ReplyDeleteKipling was truly amazing. I'm moved with everything I read from him. Such wisdom...
ReplyDeleteLove Kipling's "Barrack Room Ballads." Gunga Din, Tommy, Danny Deever, Snarleyow, Screw Guns, Belts, Cells and on and on.
ReplyDeleteErie, I've been thinking of this poem too and how many people these days have any acquaintance with Kipling.
ReplyDeleteI still recall reading George Orwell's essay on this poem and recently been listening to it sung or recited.
I've always thought the last stanza powerful-
" For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!"
Kipling is a great poet. The deep thinkers didn't like him but he had more depth then they.