Iron, Cold Iron
One of my favourite childhood poets was Rudyard Kipling. Unlike many of my friends, I came to him by a somewhat unusual route. Whereas many were enticed by the lure of the Disney-version Jungle Book and its lovably cartoonish vision, and others were entranced by the Just So Stories and the parabolic creation myths therein, I was Kipling-ized by an accident of history.
My father, you see, is an historian. He has Anglo-Indian history as one of his areas of interest. This explains why I was exposed to Recessional before Disney softened the poignancy of the original Jungle Book. Through further accidents, I migrated through Kipling's short stories and into the world of Rewards and Fairies, a vaguely subversive look at British history. It was there that I first met Cold Iron.
I loved the way Kipling married a rollicking and masterful control of metre to powerful words and noble theology. It was a synthesis I had perhaps only tasted in G K Chesterton. To watch Kipling manoeuvre from the first stanza—
"Gold is for the mistress—silver for the maid—
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade."
“Good!” said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
“But Iron—Cold Iron—is master of them all."
—to the last stanza—
“Crowns are for the valiant—sceptres for the bold!
Thrones and powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold.”
“Nay!” said the Baron, kneeling in his hall,
“But Iron—Cold Iron—is master of men all!
Iron out of Calvary is master of men all!”
—is to see a craftsman at work. This craftsman was able to take subtlety and charm and weave them into a form which a six-year-old child could enjoy - and which the same child four years, eight years and even thirty years later (sadly, no longer a child!) could still enjoy.
Actually, this has been a long digression. Originally, I meant to throw some electrons into the void and say hello to two old classmates of mine - Lithium and Selenium. I'm not kidding, you know. That is what you get when you have a father who is a chemist. I guess it could have been worse - I shall leave it to your imagination to think of how much worse.
My father, you see, is an historian. He has Anglo-Indian history as one of his areas of interest. This explains why I was exposed to Recessional before Disney softened the poignancy of the original Jungle Book. Through further accidents, I migrated through Kipling's short stories and into the world of Rewards and Fairies, a vaguely subversive look at British history. It was there that I first met Cold Iron.
I loved the way Kipling married a rollicking and masterful control of metre to powerful words and noble theology. It was a synthesis I had perhaps only tasted in G K Chesterton. To watch Kipling manoeuvre from the first stanza—
"Gold is for the mistress—silver for the maid—
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade."
“Good!” said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
“But Iron—Cold Iron—is master of them all."
—to the last stanza—
“Crowns are for the valiant—sceptres for the bold!
Thrones and powers for mighty men who dare to take and hold.”
“Nay!” said the Baron, kneeling in his hall,
“But Iron—Cold Iron—is master of men all!
Iron out of Calvary is master of men all!”
—is to see a craftsman at work. This craftsman was able to take subtlety and charm and weave them into a form which a six-year-old child could enjoy - and which the same child four years, eight years and even thirty years later (sadly, no longer a child!) could still enjoy.
Actually, this has been a long digression. Originally, I meant to throw some electrons into the void and say hello to two old classmates of mine - Lithium and Selenium. I'm not kidding, you know. That is what you get when you have a father who is a chemist. I guess it could have been worse - I shall leave it to your imagination to think of how much worse.
Labels: Poetry
etched with acid at 3:53:00 am
1 Comments:
Hello Sir
Kipling indeed deserveds our respect. Haha, and even those cultural studies types like to hold him in self esteem, going on about imperialism, theories of race, religion, etc. But I still think his books provide more enjoyment than intellectual stimulation. I like recessional a lot! I like the way Kipling describes with a certain subtle craft, and the way he flirts with historical issues and anecdotes, like in the book Kim.
Btw, are those lines you tagged from The Archpoet's Defense?
To continue your two lines:
Non me tenent vincula, non me tenet clavis,
Quero mihi similes, et adiungor pravis
Thank you! =) =)
~ suat ying
Post a Comment
<< Home