The White Man's Burden
Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem “The White Man’s Burden” to urge the U. S. to take up the “burden” of empire, or to take up the White Man's burden, which is to send the best men abroad and your sons into exile to serve your captives. The poem is subtitled "The United States and the Philippine Islands". The poem is written in 1899 which is one year after the Spanish-American War. Kipling’s intended audience is the Americans. The poem is showing Americans the burdens of imperialism on the newly taken over Philippines islands. These "newly-caught" people are wild, angry, and both devilish and childish.
In the poem, he used phrases such as “Take up the White Man’s burden…To seek another’s profit, and work another’s gain” or “Come now, to search …show more content…
There they should try to end famine and disease and serve their new captives - the native peoples. The poem smacks of cultural imperialism, with the superior English going into a country of “sullen” brutes and imposing their civilizing behaviors and institutions. There is, of course, a mentality of the Social Gospel idea of philanthropy, which said that the rich and powerful had an obligation to assist the impoverished and the sick. While not necessarily a bad idea, it was still underlain with assumptions about racial superiority and helped to further more wicked ways of establishing …show more content…
The third stanza compares other cultures and ethnicities to a "famine" and disease. Kipling did not intend the poem to be viewed as unqualified support of the imperialist endeavor; in fact, a more careful reading will reveal that Kipling was offering warnings to those who sought to undertake such actions. He warns against allowing sloth and folly to take over; laziness and debauched behavior can quickly derail noble goals. He also cautions patience, and tries to make it clear that this work is difficult and burdensome – it is the “toil of serf and sweeper,” not the “tawdry rule of kings”. He tells them they will encounter resistance and hostility but must push through. Some of the most stirring lines are: “Take up the White Man's burden-- / Have done with childish days-- / The lightly proffered laurel, / The easy, ungrudged praise”. Those who worked in the colonies must grow up quickly and understand that they will work hard and perhaps not earn the frequent and unfettered praise they might have
In the poem, he used phrases such as “Take up the White Man’s burden…To seek another’s profit, and work another’s gain” or “Come now, to search …show more content…
There they should try to end famine and disease and serve their new captives - the native peoples. The poem smacks of cultural imperialism, with the superior English going into a country of “sullen” brutes and imposing their civilizing behaviors and institutions. There is, of course, a mentality of the Social Gospel idea of philanthropy, which said that the rich and powerful had an obligation to assist the impoverished and the sick. While not necessarily a bad idea, it was still underlain with assumptions about racial superiority and helped to further more wicked ways of establishing …show more content…
The third stanza compares other cultures and ethnicities to a "famine" and disease. Kipling did not intend the poem to be viewed as unqualified support of the imperialist endeavor; in fact, a more careful reading will reveal that Kipling was offering warnings to those who sought to undertake such actions. He warns against allowing sloth and folly to take over; laziness and debauched behavior can quickly derail noble goals. He also cautions patience, and tries to make it clear that this work is difficult and burdensome – it is the “toil of serf and sweeper,” not the “tawdry rule of kings”. He tells them they will encounter resistance and hostility but must push through. Some of the most stirring lines are: “Take up the White Man's burden-- / Have done with childish days-- / The lightly proffered laurel, / The easy, ungrudged praise”. Those who worked in the colonies must grow up quickly and understand that they will work hard and perhaps not earn the frequent and unfettered praise they might have