The White Man's Burden

The White Man's Burden

1^st stanza

Take up the White Man's Burden -

Send forth the best ye breed -

Go bind your sons to exile

To serve your captive's need

To wait in heavy harness

On fluttered folk and wild

You new-caught, sullen peoples

Half devil and half child.

2^nd stanza

Take up the White Man's burden -

In patience to abide

To veil the threat of terror

And check the show of pride;

By open speech and simple,

A hundred times made plain,

To seek another's gain.

Rudyard Kipling

This English author was born in India in the1865, and after having studied in England, he returned to India, where he began to write. After many years he went to the USA and he became there vary famous also thanks to the publication of the "Libro della Giungla".

Kipling was also considered as the writer of British imperialism, a ure that exalted the patriotic spirit. He died in 1936.

The poem

In this poem the author wants to underline the vary important and relevant role of the British White Man, that has as task or (as in the poem it has been explained) burden of civilize the populations of the colonised countries.

The White Man, that here seems to be an English man, but probably he represents all the European people, has to change the already culture of these populations, teaching them a new culture and new behaviours that actually are the same of the British ones.

The White Man's sons should go to the new founded countries and hand down what their fathers' years ago had began to do.

In the poem the verbs are written nearly with the imperative time as it was an obligation of doing something because the times imposed it.

The speech used by the author is almost simple and there are not any difficult words; as the speech of the author, also that of the colonizer had to be simple and clear, because just in that way he could reach his aim. The British man had also to be patient because it could be difficult to reach this target without explaining in a careful way what he wants to teach.