The White Man's Burden is a poem that was written by the English poet, Rudyard Kipling, and published in the magazine, McClure's, in 1899.
This poem was inspired by the New Imperialism of the late-nineteenth century and, as such, is littered with references to empire-building and colonisation. Here are five for you to consider:
- First stanza: "Go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives' need": meaning to go abroad and spread imperial culture...
The White Man's Burden is a poem that was written by the English poet, Rudyard Kipling, and published in the magazine, McClure's, in 1899.
This poem was inspired by the New Imperialism of the late-nineteenth century and, as such, is littered with references to empire-building and colonisation. Here are five for you to consider:
- First stanza: "Go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives' need": meaning to go abroad and spread imperial culture which will 'civilise' the native population.
- Second stanza: "To seek another's profit, and work another's gain": this refers to the imperialist practice of colonising new lands so that the imperialists could plunder their natural resources, turn it into new goods and then sell it for a profit.
- Third stanza: "Fill full the mouth of famine, and bid the sickness cease": many imperialists thought that colonisation would improve the standard of living in colonised countries, through better food supplies and access to Western medicines.
- Fourth stanza: "Take up the white man's burden, no tawdry rule of kings": colonising new countries destroyed many of their existing political and governmental structures. This was bad for the colonial population but the imperialists believed that this was a good thing.
- Seventh praise: "The lightly proffered laurel, the easy, ungrudged praise": imperialists thought that colonial nations should be grateful for being ruled by European countries because it made them more civilised and modern.
No comments:
Post a Comment