Nobel Laureate in Literature Joseph Rudyard Kipling's Poems on GOD

Author/Compiler: Tihomir Dimitrov (http://nobelists.net; also see http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/issue/view/3)

RUDYARD KIPLING – NOBEL LAUREATE IN LITERATURE

Nobel Prize: Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) received the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature “in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author.” He is England’s greatest short-story writer.

Nationality: British

Education: Educated at the United Services College, Westward Ho, Bideford, North Devon, England

Occupation: Poet, novelist, and editor

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1. “Non nobis Domine! –

Not unto us, O Lord!
The Praise or Glory be
Of any deed or word;
For in Thy Judgment lies
To crown or bring to nought
All knowledge or device
That Man has reached or wrought.
O Power by Whom we live –
Creator, Judge, and Friend,
Upholdingly forgive
Nor fail us at the end:
But grant us well to see
In all our piteous ways –
Non nobis Domine! –
Not unto us the Praise!”

(From ‘Non nobis Domine!’, 1934; see Kipling, as cited in T.S. Eliot 1963, 257).

2. “Father in Heaven who lovest all,

Oh, help Thy children when they call;
That they may build from age to age
An undefiled heritage.
Teach us to look in all our ends
On Thee for judge, and not our friends;
That we, with Thee, may walk uncowed
By fear or favour of the crowd.
Teach us the Strength that cannot seek,
By deed or thought, to hurt the weak;
That, under Thee, we may possess
Man’s strength to comfort man’s distress.”

(Kipling, as cited in T.S. Eliot 1963, 272; see also Kipling 1989, 575).

3. In his article “The Religion of Rudyard Kipling”, Jabez T. Sunderland wrote:

“I believe that Kipling has a religious message for our time. Some of his poems have been born out of his deepest soul, and go straight to the consciences and religious needs of many men. God speaks to the world through many voices. I believe one is that of Kipling.” (Sunderland 1899, 607-608).

4. “God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine –
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!”

(From “Recessional”, 1897; see Kipling, as cited in Sunderland 1899, 606-609).

5. This is Kipling’s revelation of himself:

“I was made all things to all men,
But now my course is done –
And now is my reward –
Ah, Christ, when I stand at Thy Throne
With those I have drawn to the Lord,
Restore me my self again!”

(From “At His Execution”, Limits and Renewals, 1932; see Kipling, as cited in Wilson 1978, 340).

6. This is Kipling’s notion of Heaven:

“And only the Master shall praise us,
And only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money,
And no one shall work for fame;
But each for the joy of the working,
And each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It,
For the God of Things as They Are!”

(From the poem “When Earth’s Last Picture Is Painted”, 1892; see Kipling, as cited in Sunderland 1899, 612).