Poetry and power: Rudyard Kipling and the war in South Africa 1899-1902 (Obituary)

Using the example of a poem by Rudyard Kipling, entitled "Bridge-Guard in the Karroo" and first published in the Times on June 6, 1901, this paper aims to show that the relationships between poetry and power are considerably closer and more complex than modern poetics would have us believe. Power is a source of poetry, both in terms of patronage and in terms of inspiration. It is also both the means and one of the ends of poetry, as we shall see by looking at the forces at work in political poetry.