Updating Kipling’s Barrack Room Ballads
To T. A.
I have made for you a song,
And it may be right or wrong,
But only you can tell me if it’s true;
I have tried for to explain
Both your pleasure and your pain,
And, Thomas, here’s my best respects to you!
O there’ll surely come a day
When they’ll give you all your pay,
And treat you as a Christian ought to do;
So, until that day comes round,
Heaven keep you safe and sound,
And, Thomas, here’s my best respects to you!
R. K.
“Dedication to T.A.”, Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses (1892), Rudyard Kipling
My sisters once gave me a book of verse that this dedication is from — and I struggled to read it. But not because of the subject — I could tell it was interesting, but I could not power through the language and really appreciate it.
This is why I revised the language and want to share my enjoyment of Rudyard Kipling with you. Each week I’ll be publishing a Barrack Room Ballad in order of Kipling’s original publications.
Who were TA and RK?
‘RK’ was Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), an Indian-born British writer probably best known for the Jungle Books, Kim and Just So stories. But he was also poet and while his most famous is the much admired If, he was a great admirer of the British Army and in particular the regular soldiers — the ‘Tommy Atkins’, or ‘TA’ in his dedication. I’ll go in depth on why a British soldier was called Tommy in the poem of that name.
Kipling published two collections of his poems of the British solider, his Barrack Room Ballads — collected in two volumes as Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses and The Seven Seas. While never a soldier himself Kipling wrote verse from the perspective of soldiers, usually as a private or non-commissioned officer.
Why update Kipling’s poems
In writing so Kipling tended to write in a language he saw as reflecting how the soldier spoke, typically a Londoner. As a modern reader I wanted to enjoy them and tried but just could not get past the language.
Here’s an example:
‘E rushes at the smoke when we let drive,
An’, before we know, ‘e’s ‘ackin’ at our ‘ead;
‘E’s all ‘ot sand an’ ginger when alive,
An’ ‘e’s generally shammin’ when ‘e’s dead.
‘E’s a daisy, ‘e’s a ducky, ‘e’s a lamb!
At times it felt like trying to swim through apostrophes (two in ‘acking’!) or reading the original Canterbury Tales despite the poem being written in the final years of the 19th century.
To enjoy it I needed to update the language.
There is no rule on how to update a text, so I followed the principle of updating as little as possible to make the text as legible as possible. Here’s the same paragraph as before:
He rushes at the smoke when we let drive,
And, before we know, he’s hacking at our head;
He’s all hot sand and ginger when alive,
And he’s generally shamming when he’s dead.
He’s a daisy, he’s a ducky, he’s a lamb!
Now this may not be totally clear to the reader — what state is someone who is “all hot sand and ginger”? — but at least it is easier to read.
Why I’ve not changed some of his language
While I’ve edited for clarity principle is that I’ve not changed some of the language. In particular Kipling used a lot of language which would not be used now.
The examples above come from the poem Fuzzy-Wuzzy, about Sudanese fighters. Not only is the term offensive to some readers, but in four poems — Loot, Snarleyow, The Widow’s Party, The Ladies — he uses what at best is described as the ‘n-word’.
I’ve not removed it, not because it’s a word I like, let alone use. But were I to do so there would be other words that others may want to update ; ‘whore’ in the The Sergeant’s Wedding, or whole poems such as Gunga Din (although I’d argue it’s more praising than condemning the ‘black faced’ and ‘heathen’ Gunga Din).
Overall discussion on racism in Kipling and context of his time is something that continues to generate think pieces. Charles McGrath writing in the New Yorker best summed up the debate:
Kipling has been variously labelled a colonialist, a jingoist, a racist, an anti-Semite, a misogynist, a right-wing imperialist warmonger; and — though some scholars have argued that his views were more complicated than he is given credit for — to some degree he really was all those things.
That he was also a prodigiously gifted writer who created works of inarguable greatness hardly matters anymore, at least not in many classrooms, where Kipling remains politically toxic.
My posts will focus on the poems and their context. But I’m not ignoring the criticisms of racism. I’m working on a way to to increase diversity in screenwriting and while I may not have words I hope that my actions end up helping address some things Kipling is accused of.
I also encourage you to donate to Show Racism the Red Card if you too want to help.
The spirit of the update
Kipling wrote these poems in a vernacular to make it clear it was the common soldier speaking, not to mock but to praise their mostly overlooked (or reviled, as seen in Tommy) efforts.
My updating of the language follows this same spirit and to make it easier for readers to appreciate what the common soldier felt. Kipling’s skill as a writer for me is that this comes across best not in the language but the topics and themes.
I do not wish to enrage Kipling purists. If you want the originals — which I won’t be publishing — there are plenty of original editions for those who want them, including free of charge at Project Gutenberg and the Kipling Society.
To each poem I’ve added some light notes but link to more detailed information, usually at The Kipling Society, for those who want to explore the context further.
Why publish Kipling despite everything
Charles Carrington, a professor of history at Cambridge University, once noted that unlike sea shanties and other sailor songs, “no-one had thought of collecting genuine soldiers’ songs, and when Kipling wrote in this traditional style it was not recognised as traditional”. This update is part of that tradition.
Not all poems may meet modern sensibilities but despite the language the themes and topics have universal appeal. As such I want to:
- share enjoyment of the poems — reading them in a clearer language has made me appreciate Kipling’s use of language and I want others to do the same
- prompt memories — now it’s clearer to read I believe that the similarities between being a soldier in Kipling’s time and experiences of modern readers will also become clearer
My posts then will focus more on the impact than interpretation, as the Kipling Society already has very good interpretation of the poems.
Take this post inspired by the very first Barrack Room Ballad, Danny Deever. It’s a poem about a soldier hanged for cowardice and it prompted a former US artillery observer on Reddit, AnathemaMaranatha, to reminisce on his time in Vietnam and a soldier thought of as a ‘ratfuck coward’.
This is one story about Cowardice in three episodes. It stars a man I’m going to call “Danny Deever,” because… well, he’s the star. He was the 7th Cavalry “Regiment’s disgrace.” He never shot anyone. But some people wanted to execute him anyway, mostly for not shooting anyone. He is a strange memory to me — infuriating, despicable, shameful.
Also oddly helpful to me at a time in my life when I needed to know the true nature of cowardice.
So enjoy. Read these poems, both products of their time but also holders of timeless truth.
How you can contribute
I put this on Medium to make it a discussion, feel free to:
- comment on your thoughts on my update
- comment your thoughts on the poem or my commentary
- contact me if you want to post about a modern take on Kipling
If you wish to support charities I recommend:
- Show Racism the Red Card — a British anti-racism educational charity
- The Invictus Games Foundation — a charity that uses sport and challenge to inspire, improve and influence the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women
- The Media Trust —helps mentor and develop people in the media from all backgrounds
- The Royal British Legion —UK charity that supports serving and ex-serving personnel
Finally if you do use my revised version of the texts please do cite me.
