The White Man's Burden

"The Widow at Windsor" by Rudyard Kipling (1892)

The widow in the title is Queen Victoria. The poem is written in the first-person voice of the common British soldier, who is sent to distant places and various wars, of which he and his working-class comrades understand little. They have neither affection for the national anthem, which they cannot get away from, or respect for the British flag (“the bloomin’ old rag over’ead”). All they want to do is go home. The poem presents quite a contrast to “The White Man’s Burden.” The soldiers’ superiors might send them to fight, but they have no love of the imperialistic venture as it affects themselves.

"The Ladies" by Rudyard Kipling (1896)

Like “The Widow at Windsor,” the speaker in this poem is an ordinary British soldier posted to different places overseas, such as Burma and India. His only interest, however, is not his military adventures, but the different local women he has made love to. He takes his pleasure where he can find it and says he learned a lot from each of the women. The way he speaks of the nonwhite women, however, is that of a man of his time and place and will not find favor among readers today.

"Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling (1897)

Kipling wrote this poem, one of his most famous, as part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the British throne. The poet implores God to be with the British Empire; he warns Great Britain that it must walk in the ways of God or its empire will perish, as empires have done in the past. The nation must be humble and always be aware that God is the judge. It must not be corrupted by power and must put its faith in God, thus showing itself superior in that respect to other peoples.

"If" by Rudyard Kipling (1910)

This might be Kipling’s best-known poem and is sometimes regarded as the most famous English poem of all. It was written as advice to Kipling’s son, who was around 13 at the time, about how to cultivate the attitude of mind that would enable him to successfully deal with all the vicissitudes of life.