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8.2
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Now Jones had left his new-wed bride to keep his house in order,
And hied away to the Hurrum Hills above the Afghan border,
To sit on a rock with a heliograph; but ere he left he taught
His wife the working of the Code that sets the miles at naught.
And Love had made him very sage, as Nature made her fair;
So Cupid and Apollo linked , per heliograph, the pair.
At dawn, across the Hurrum Hills, he flashed her counsel wise --
At e'en, the dying sunset bore her busband's homilies.
He warned her 'gainst seductive youths in scarlet clad and gold,
As much as 'gainst the blandishments paternal of the old;
But kept his gravest warnings for (hereby the ditty hangs)
That snowy-haired Lothario, Lieutenant-General Bangs.
'Twas General Bangs, with Aide and Staff, who tittupped on the way,
When they beheld a heliograph tempestuously at play.
They thought of Border risings, and of stations sacked and burnt --
So stopped to take the message down -- and this is whay they learnt --
"Dash dot dot, dot, dot dash, dot dash dot" twice. The General swore.
"Was ever General Officer addressed as 'dear' before?
"'My Love,' i' faith! 'My Duck,' Gadzooks! 'My darling popsy-wop!'
"Spirit of great Lord Wolseley, who is on that mountaintop?"
The artless Aide-de-camp was mute; the gilded Staff were still,
As, dumb with pent-up mirth, they booked that message from the hill;
For clear as summer lightning-flare, the husband's warning ran: --
"Don't dance or ride with General Bangs -- a most immoral man."
[At dawn, across the Hurrum Hills, he flashed her counsel wise --
But, howsoever Love be blind, the world at large hath eyes.]
With damnatory dot and dash he heliographed his wife
Some interesting details of the General's private life.
The artless Aide-de-camp was mute, the shining Staff were still,
And red and ever redder grew the General's shaven gill.
And this is what he said at last (his feelings matter not): --
"I think we've tapped a private line. Hi! Threes about there! Trot!"
All honour unto Bangs, for ne'er did Jones thereafter know
By word or act official who read off that helio.
But the tale is on the Frontier, and from Michni to Mooltan
They know the worthy General as "that most immoral man."
Rudyard Kipling
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Read poems about / on: warning, husband, sunset, dance, faith, summer, nature, house, red, wedding, work, running
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Comments about this poem (A Code of Morals
by
Rudyard Kipling
) |
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Click here to write your
comments about this poem (A Code of Morals by
Rudyard Kipling
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Pat Bailey
(7/13/2009 1:37:00 PM) |
Yes, Britain in the Victorian era was Jingoistic with a capital J. So what? That was 'political correctness' back then. Don't expect words on a page to magically change with the times in order to remain 'PC' as defined by 21st century thinking.
We hear the same thing about Samuel Clemens' works. I can imagine Huck Finn referring to his friend as 'African-American Jim', or 'Jim of color'. Why not appreciate literature for literature's sake instead of trying to updat it to reflect the mores of today?
Mark: excellent point about 'the world at large' having (hathing?) eyes.
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Mark Schulte
(6/7/2009 4:55:00 PM) |
I agree with those who see this simply as a funny personal snafu that is being described by Kipling. But is also has a good natured cautionary message for modern ears as well and that is: be careful what you put on the internet - Facebook or otherwise - because the 'world at large hath eyes'.
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Michael Harmon
(6/5/2009 10:33:00 PM) |
I. Argumentum ad Hominem (abusive and circumstantial) : the fallacy of attacking the character or circumstances of an individual who is advancing a statement or an argument instead of trying to disprove the truth of the statement or the soundness of the argument. Often the argument is characterized simply as a personal attack.
A. The personal attack is also often termed an 'ad personem argument': the statement or argument at issue is dropped from consideration or is ignored, and the locutor's character or circumstances are used to influence opinion.
B. The fallacy draws its appeal from the technique of 'getting personal.' The assumption is that what the locutor is saying is entirely or partially dictated by his character or special circumstances and so should be disregarded.
http: //philosophy.lander.edu/logic/person.html
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Michael Pruchnicki
(6/5/2009 10:30:00 AM) |
Perhaps the joke is labored, as our adolescent critic claims, but so what? What's his understanding of military life and the pranks that are part of a soldier's life on foreign soil in peace or war? Does everything have to conform to today's mores? Sit back and enjoy, lad! By his standards, Mowgli might as well have been brought up by Aunt Min's dachshund with her puppies in a posh apartment on the upper west side!
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Kevin Straw
(6/5/2009 5:29:00 AM) |
This joke is laboured and simply does not work. A heliograph was a way of sending morse by flashing light. I cannot believe a heliographer (a private soldier) would send such a message libelling (?) his General, which could be seen by everyone. This poem is a little joke which K has set among the military in India at the time of the Raj, nothing more or less - it could have been a misdialled telephone call in a city office.
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JOE POEWHIT
(6/5/2009 2:53:00 AM) |
Kipling understood the region and the fighting spirits. The poem gives dire warning of underestimating the Afghan. people. Other poems of Kipling bring this forth also. One in remembrance is, 'they send there women out at nights to finish the job with knives'. His warning of calling the general 'DEAR' brings out the attitude of his comprehensions of the situation. Kipling again, understood the people.
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Paula Atherton
(6/5/2008 10:25:00 AM) |
Well said Mr Pruchnicki.
Everyone seems to be so judgemental.
Wouldn't it just be better if we just enjoyed the poetry and accept that it is our right to express whatever we want. We aren't here to be liked, simply to be. Of course somethings we like others we don't, that's good, but my God, please just accept each other as valid human beings and try to empathise once in a while.
Ps, Mr Kipling made exceedingly good cakes! (joke) lol.
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Michael Pruchnicki
(6/5/2008 7:58:00 AM) |
Here it is in 2008 - a remnant of the politically correct crowd asserting that though a poem reads well and provides pleasure to the reader, it is 'jingoistic' and somehow we should pass judgment on it and dismiss it as 'outdated'! After all, isn't the whole point of literature expressing whatever is current? Of course it's not, and readers who aspire to understand poetry should know that!
Get a grip, it's a funny poem that could have been written about current events today in Afghanistan or Iraq or wherever troops are serving today, or for that matter, in the foreseeable future. Delete the red coats and substitute desert camo fatigues and the story of the blustery and worthy General would still stand muster and be funny!
There's a kind of smugness in the attitude that one can rewrite history to suit the modern reader's prejudices!
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Eric Ratcliffe
(6/5/2004 5:30:00 PM) |
Reads well, still, but jingoism is outdated in 2004.
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Rudyard Kipling
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