Boots (poem)
"Boots" is a poem by English author and poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). It was first published in 1903, in his collection The Five Nations.[1]
"Boots" imagines the repetitive thoughts of a British Army infantryman marching by forced marches in South Africa during the Second Boer War (which had ended in 1902). It has been said that if the first four words in each line are read at the rate of two words to the second, that gives the time to which the British foot soldier was accustomed to march.[2]
The poem was set to music for low male voice and orchestra by "P. J. McCall", and recorded in 1929 by Australian bass-baritone Peter Dawson. McCall was Dawson, publishing under a pseudonym. That setting was soon recorded by other singers, but seems largely to have fallen out of fashion; perhaps because of World War 2.
American-born British poet T. S. Eliot included the poem in his 1941 anthology A Choice of Kipling's Verse.[3]
The recording of Taylor Holmes reciting the poem was used for its psychological effect in U.S. military SERE schools.
Recordings
- 1915 – Taylor Holmes (spoken word) Victor B 55057 [4]
- 1929 – Peter Dawson HMV B 3072 [5]
- n.d. – Leonard Warren [6]
- n.d. – Joseph Farrington Piccadilly 5035
- n.d. – Raymond Newell HMV 109
- 1935 – Eric Woodburn
- 1940 – Norman Corwin (spoken recitation) Columbia 36055 [7]
- 1966 – Owen Brannigan, from The Road to Mandalay: Kipling in Song, HMV 3581[8]
- 1978 – Benjamin Luxon and David Willison (voice and piano) [9]
- 2016 – Jocko Willink (spoken word) [10]
References
- ^ Hamer, Mary. ""Boots" (Infantry Column of the Earlier War)". The Kipling Society. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ Durand, Ralph (1914). A Handbook to the Poetry of Rudyard Kipling. Doubleday, Page & Co. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ Eliot, T. S. (1963) [December 1941]. A Choice of Kipling's Verse Made by T. S. Eliot. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-07007-8.
- ^ "Taylor Holmes – Gunga Din / Boots". Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- ^ "78 RPM Record". 45worlds.com. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ "Leonard Warren". The Gramophone. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ "COLUMBIA (Microphone label, USA) 36000 to 36500 Numerical Listing". 78discography.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ https://www.discogs.com/Owen-Brannigan-Ernest-Lush-With-Gilbert-Vinter-And-His-Orchestra-The-Road-To-Mandalay-Kipling-In-Son/release/12177603
- ^ Benjamin Luxon And David Willison - Break The News To Mother: Victorian & Edwardian Ballads at Discogs
- ^ "Jocko Podcast 38".
External links
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