‘E rushes at the smoke when we let drive,Īn’, before we know, ‘e’s ‘ackin’ at our ‘ead Īn’ ‘e’s generally shammin’ when ‘e’s dead. There is energy and enthusiasm and verbal felicity, there is something to entertain, in every poem. My favourite is Fuzzy Wuzzy, which I’ve read out numerous times to the kids (these poems being designed to recite, boom or chant out loud). I love the Cockney spelling, I love the humour which shines out of every line, the cheekiness of the soldier, and the cheekiness of Kipling’s romanticising the soldier. It took me just over 40 minutes to read the 21 short poems in this book and, wow, what a punch they still pack! I love music hall songs, and so I love the voice and ballad form of these poems. Kipling’s reputation leapt even higher on the publication in 1892 of the Barrack Room Ballads (known as ‘series 1’, since he ended up publishing a further set or ‘series 2’ in 1896).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |