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    France at War: On the Frontier of Civilisation
    France at War: On the Frontier of Civilisation
    France at War: On the Frontier of Civilisation
    Ebook68 pages1 hour

    France at War: On the Frontier of Civilisation

    By Rudyard Kipling

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    Dodo Collections brings you another classic from Rudyard Kipling, ‘France at War: On the Frontier of Civilisation.’
     
    In 1915, in the second year of the Great War, Kipling made a tour as a journalist on the front of some of the French armed forces. His report of what he had seen of the military activity was published in six articles in the Daily Telegraph, in England, and in the New York Sun. He published some (censored) articles of war journalism in 1915, collected as The New Army in Training and France at War.
     
    Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story; his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".
     
    Kipling was one of the most popular writers in England, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date Among other honours, he was sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, all of which he declined
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDead Dodo Presents Rudyard Kipling
    Release dateJul 6, 2015
    ISBN9781508017776
    Author

    Rudyard Kipling

    Rudyard Kipling was born in India in 1865. After intermittently moving between India and England during his early life, he settled in the latter in 1889, published his novel The Light That Failed in 1891 and married Caroline (Carrie) Balestier the following year. They returned to her home in Brattleboro, Vermont, where Kipling wrote both The Jungle Book and its sequel, as well as Captains Courageous. He continued to write prolifically and was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 but his later years were darkened by the death of his son John at the Battle of Loos in 1915. He died in 1936.

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      Book preview

      France at War - Rudyard Kipling

      FRANCE AT WAR: ON THE FRONTIER OF CIVILISATION

      Rudyard Kipling

      DODO COLLECTIONS

      Thank you for reading. In the event that you appreciate this book, please consider sharing the good word(s) by leaving a review or contacting the author.

      This book is a work of nonfiction and is intended to be factually accurate.

      All rights reserved. Aside from brief quotations for media coverage and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the author’s permission. Thank you for supporting authors and a diverse, creative culture by purchasing this book and complying with copyright laws.

      Copyright © 2015 by Rudyard Kipling

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      FRANCE*

      I. ON THE FRONTIER OF CIVILIZATION

      II. THE NATION’S SPIRIT AND A NEW INHERITANCE

      III. BATTLE SPECTACLE AND A REVIEW

      IV. THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE

      V. LIFE IN TRENCHES ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE

      VI. THE COMMON TASK OF A GREAT PEOPLE

      FRANCE*

      ~

      BROKE TO EVERY KNOWN mischance, lifted over all By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul, Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil, Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of men’s mind, First to follow truth and last to leave old truths behind— France beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind.

      ~

      Ere our birth (rememberest thou?) side

      by side we lay

      Fretting in the womb of Rome to begin

      the fray.

      Ere men knew our tongues apart, our one

      taste was known—

      Each must mould the other’s fate as he

      wrought his own.

      To this end we stirred mankind till all

      earth was ours,

      Till our world-end strifes began wayside

      thrones and powers,

      Puppets that we made or broke to bar

      the other’s path—

      Necessary, outpost folk, hirelings of our

      wrath.

      To this end we stormed the seas, tack for

      tack, and burst

      Through the doorways of new worlds,

      doubtful which was first.

      Hand on hilt (rememberest thou?), ready

      for the blow.

      Sure whatever else we met we should

      meet our foe.

      Spurred or baulked at ev’ry stride by the

      other’s strength,

      So we rode the ages down and every ocean’s

      length;

      Where did you refrain from us or we

      refrain from you?

      Ask the wave that has not watched war

      between us two.

      Others held us for a while, but with

      weaker charms,

      These we quitted at the call for each

      other’s arms.

      Eager toward the known delight, equally

      we strove,

      Each the other’s mystery, terror, need,

      and love.

      To each other’s open court with our

      proofs we came,

      Where could we find honour else or men

      to test the claim?

      From each other’s throat we wrenched

      valour’s last reward,

      That extorted word of praise gasped

      ‘twixt lunge and guard.

      In each other’s cup we poured mingled

      blood and tears,

      Brutal joys, unmeasured hopes,

      intolerable fears,

      All that soiled or salted life for a thousand

      years.

      Proved beyond the need of proof, matched

      in every clime,

      O companion, we have lived greatly

      through all time:

      Yoked in knowledge and remorse now we

      come to rest,

      Laughing at old villainies that time has

      turned to jest,

      Pardoning old necessity no pardon can

      efface—

      That undying sin we shared in Rouen

      market-place.

      Now we watch the new years shape,

      wondering if they hold

      Fiercer lighting in their hearts than we

      launched of old.

      Now we hear new voices rise, question,

      boast or gird,

      As we raged (rememberest thou?) when

      our crowds were stirred.

      Now we count new keels afloat, and new

      hosts on land,

      Massed liked ours (rememberest thou?)

      when our strokes were planned.

      We were schooled for dear life sake, to

      know each other’s blade:

      What can blood and iron make more than

      we have made?

      We have learned by keenest use to know

      each other’s mind:

      What shall blood and iron loose that we

      cannot bind?

      We who swept each other’s coast, sacked

      each other’s home,

      Since the sword of Brennus clashed on

      the scales at Rome,

      Listen, court and close again, wheeling

      girth to girth,

      In the strained and bloodless guard set

      for peace on earth.

      ~

      Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul, Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, Terrible with strength renewed from a tireless soil, Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of men’s mind, First to follow truth and last to leave old truths behind, France beloved of

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