Or lesser breeds without the Law.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,.
Lest we forget "lest we forget! (19-24).
The harsh criticism Kipling received from these lines is still discussed to this day. Besides giving people the strong impression that he is an imperialist, another of Rudyard Kipling's poems, "The White Man's Burden-, gives a racist image of the writer. This excerpt describes the lower class of citizens under England's rule and the poor quality of their lives:.
The ports ye shall not enter,.
The roads ye shall not tread,.
Go make them with your living,.
And mark them with your dead! (29-32) .
Unlike "Recessional-, however, "White Man's Burden- portrays the benefits of imperialism. To alleviate the negativity of the poem Kipling shows the positives of the .
British Empire and its rule. One theory of Kipling's, that unless England supports its colonies then they will fall, is heavily expressed in this verse (Middle 1). David Cody, Associate Professor of English at Hartwick College, points out that Kipling's British Empire can be compared to that of the ancient Roman Empire when saying,.
" its purpose was to maintain stability, order, and peace amongst the heathen, to relieve famine, provide medical assistance, to abolish slavery, to construct the physical and the psychological groundwork for civilization, and to protect the mother country. It was an island security in a chaotic world- (Cody 1).
Kipling's British Empire hindered and assisted in his creative process (Cody 1). It created numerous subjects for his works, but in return brought upon a backlash of harsh criticism.
Some other sociological references of Kipling's are found in "Tommy."" "Tommy- addresses the horrible treatment of soldiers by civilians and the British public's hypocritical opinions of the military (Young 153). The ending lines of "Tommy- especially express societies "love/hate relationship- with its soldiers (Cantalupo 256).
