Rudyard Kipling: 100 Poems. Old and New. Selected and edited by Thomas Pinney

• Tom Nolan

In line with Romantic tradition, it is customary to think of the poet as standing aloof from society; to think that, no matter how much society honours the poet, the poet himself must blaze a unique artistic and moral trail, under no obligation but to his own integrity. Kipling, by contrast, thought of himself in almost tribal terms, and of the poet’s activity as vital to the community’s well-being. He wrote at his best when addressing a broad public about matters of general interest, and with a consciousness of being able to influence the course of events. He was about as far from being a ‘pure’ poet as Isambard Kingdom Brunel was from being a ‘pure’ architect. When Kipling first began to publish his poetry, the ‘tribal’ service he performed was that of helping maintain a sense of solidarity and shared experience among the Anglo-Indians with whom he identified (e.g. no 11 ‘Distress in the Himalyas’ and no. 19 ‘Liberavi Animam Meam’).