Background:
“The White Man’s Burden”: Kipling’s Hymn to U.S. Imperialism
In February 1899, British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “The White Man’s Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands.” In this poem, Kipling urged the U.S. to take up the “burden” of empire, as had Britain and other European nations. Published in the February, 1899 issue of McClure’s Magazine, the poem coincided with the beginning of the Philippine-American War and U.S. Senate ratification of the treaty that placed Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba, and the Philippines under American control. Theodore Roosevelt, soon to become vice-president and then president, copied the poem and sent it to his friend, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, commenting that it was “rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view.” Not everyone was as favorably impressed as Roosevelt. The racialized notion of the “White Man’s burden” became a euphemism for imperialism, and many anti-imperialists couched their opposition in reaction to the phrase.
Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. (dictionary.com)
The White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling with annotations
(As a superior type of people, it is your duty to rule inferior people.)
Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed— (You're sending your grown children
Go send your sons to exile to foreign lands.)
To serve your captives' need (You conquer people, then rule them.)
To wait in heavy harness (It's hard work to rule conquered people.)
On fluttered folk and wild— (The people you rule aren't civilized.)
Your new-caught, sullen peoples, (Sullen means "bad-tempered, sulkey, gloomy.)
Half devil and half child (They don't really seem human.)
Take up the White Man’s burden
In patience to abide (Abide means to hold to your decision.)
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride; (Check means to stop.)
By open speech and simple
An hundred times made plain
To seek another’s profit
And work another’s gain
Take up the White Man’s burden—
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better (You are doing this to help them,
The hate of those ye guard— but they blame and hate you.)
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah slowly) to the light:
"Why brought ye us from bondage, (You are there to help them advance,
“Our loved Egyptian night?” to become civilized.)
Take up the White Man’s burden-
Have done with childish days-
The lightly proffered laurel, (It's going to be hard work,
The easy, ungrudged praise. and they won't thank you for it.)
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years,
Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers! (Other white men will think you
have done the right thing.)
Looking at it as a Poem
Meter: (rhythm or beat) Which syllables or words are emphasized?
Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child. (1-7)
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child. (1-7)
daDUM daDUM daDUMda
daDUM daDUM daDUM
daDUM daDUM daDUM
Rhyme: Every other line rhymes.
"Every stanza follows the same pattern—not a word, or a rhyme, out of place.
As a result, the poem takes on an orderly, regimented feel, almost like a march. It also reminds us of those cheers that we would hear at high school football games: "Push 'em back. Push 'em back. Waaaay back!" In both cases, the form of the poem is totally appropriate. Here we have a speaker who acts like a kind of cheerleader, encouraging white men to go out and establish their order, their way of life on the "wild" natives of other countries. Push 'em back, indeed."
http://www.shmoop.com/white-mans-burden/rhyme-form-meter.html
The White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling with annotations
Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed— (burden, best, breed = alliteration)
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need (Rhyme -- breed/need)
To wait in heavy harness (heavy harness = alliteration)
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child (Rhyme -- wild/child)
Take up the White Man’s burden Rhythm = ︶/︶/︶/︶
In patience to abide Rhythm = ︶/︶/︶/
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple
An hundred times made plain
To seek another’s profit
And work another’s gain
Take up the White Man’s burden—
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better
The hate of those ye guard—
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah slowly) to the light:
"Why brought ye us from bondage, (allusion to the children of Israel
“Our loved Egyptian night?” in Egypt -- Think Moses.)
Take up the White Man’s burden-
Have done with childish days-
The lightly proffered laurel, (allusion: laurel wreaths were awarded
The easy, ungrudged praise. to winners of Olympic Games)
The easy, ungrudged praise. to winners of Olympic Games)
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years,
Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!
Source: Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899.” Rudyard Kipling’s Verse: Definitive Edition (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1929).
