Rudyard Kipling: Difference between revisions

During the summer of 1883, Kipling visited [[Shimla|Simla]] (now Shimla), well-known [[hill station]] and summer capital of British India. By then it was established practice for the [[Viceroy of India]] and the government to move to Simla for six months and the town became a "centre of power as well as pleasure."<ref name=plainsintro/> Kipling's family became yearly visitors to Simla and Lockwood Kipling was asked to serve in the Christ Church there. He returned to Simla for his annual leave each year from 1885 to 1888, and the town figured prominently in many of the stories Kipling was writing for the ''Gazette''.<ref name=plainsintro/> Kipling describes this time: "My month’s leave at Simla, or whatever Hill Station my people went to, was pure joy—every golden hour counted. It began in heat and discomfort, by rail and road. It ended in the cool evening, with a wood fire in one’s bedroom, and next morn—thirty more of them ahead!—the early cup of tea, the Mother who brought it in, and the long talks of us all together again. One had leisure to work, too, at whatever play-work was in one’s head, and that was usually full."<ref name=autobio/> Back in Lahore, some thirty-nine stories appeared in the ''Gazette'' between November 1886 and June 1887. Most of these stories were included in ''[[Plain Tales from the Hills]]'', Kipling's first prose collection, which was published in [[Calcutta]] in January 1888, a month after his 22nd birthday. Kipling's time in Lahore, however, had come to an end. In November 1887, he had been transferred to the ''Gazette'''s much larger sister newspaper, ''The Pioneer'', in Allahabad in the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]].

In early 1898 Kipling and his family travelled to South Africa for their winter holiday, thus beginning an annual tradition which (excepting the following year) was to last until 1908. With his newly minted reputation as the poet of the Empire, Kipling was warmly received by some of the most influential politicians of the [[Cape Colony]], including [[Cecil John Rhodes|Cecil Rhodes]], [[Alfred Milner|Sir Alfred Milner]], and [[Leander Starr Jameson]]. In turn, Kipling cultivated their friendship and came to greatly admire all three men and their politics. The period 1898–1910 was a crucial one in the history of South Africa and included the Second Boer War (1899–1902), the ensuing peace treaty, and the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Back in England, Kipling wrote poetry in support of the British cause in the Boer War and on his next visit to South Africa in early 1900, he helped start a newspaper, ''The Friend'', for the British troops in [[Bloemfontein]], the newly captured capital of the [[Orange Free State]]. Although his journalistic stint was to last only two weeks, it was the first time Kipling would work on a newspaper staff since he left ''The Pioneer'' in Allahabad more than ten years earlier.<ref name=gilmour/> He also wrote articles published more widely expressing his views on the conflict.<ref name="NYT1900">{{Citation| last = Kipling| first = Rudyard| title = Kipling at Cape Town: Severe Arraignment of Treacherous Afrikanders and Demand for Condign Punishment By and By| newspaper = The New York Times| pages = 21| date = 18 March 1900| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9401EFDC1339E733A2575BC1A9659C946197D6CF }}</ref> Kipling penned an inscription for the [[Honoured Dead Memorial]] (Siege memorial) in [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]].