The opening images of the poem are drawn from accounts of the Mau Mau Uprising, an extended and bloody battle during the 1950s between European settlers and the native Kikuyu tribe in what is now the republic of Kenya. ... In addition, at the time the poem was written, the poet's country of birth, the island of St. ... As Walcott is divided in two, so too is the poem. ... Just as the uprising was never cleanly resolved, Walcott, at least within the poem, never resolves his conflict about whose side to take. Poem Summary The first three lines depict the poem's setting on the African...

• Word Count: 4862
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

It is doubtful that Kipling meant his poem to be taken seriously as a whole. ... One can see the parallels between these ideas presented in the poem and those in Heart of Darkness. ... Two of his most oft-condemned poems, Recessional and The White Man's Burden, actually were used by both sides of the colonial issue at the time.1 A reading of Recessional, taken in the context of the prevailing attitudes of the time, seems to indicate that it is a piece about hubris rather than a promotion of the Empire. ... A collection of poems written in the voice of a London cockney, they display Kiplin...

• Word Count: 4292
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

In New York, British director Peter Brook's nine-hour production of an ancient Hindu epic poem, The Mahabharata, has lately been playing to packed houses and considerable critical praise. ... Though ruthless, the Moguls had cultivated tastes, especially for Persianstyle gardens, poems and miniatures. ...

• Word Count: 5127
• Approx Pages: 21
• Grade Level: Undergraduate