"Barrack-Room Ballads" by Rudyard Kipling is a timeless collection of poems that encapsulates the camaraderie, hardships, and adventures of soldiers serving in the British Army during the late 19th century. Published in 1892, this anthology showcases Kipling's keen insight into the lives of ordinary soldiers and his ability to capture their experiences with authenticity and empathy. Drawing inspiration from his own experiences as a journalist and traveler, Kipling's poems in "Barrack-Room Ballads" transport readers to the barracks and battlefields where soldiers live, love, and fight. Through his vivid imagery and evocative language, he brings to life the sights, sounds, and emotions of military life, from the monotony of garrison duty to the thrill of combat. One of the defining features of this collection is Kipling's use of balladry—a traditional form of storytelling through verse. The ballads in "Barrack-Room Ballads" are characterized by their narrative style, rhythm, and often repetitive refrains, which lend themselves well to oral recitation and communal singing, mirroring the camaraderie and solidarity among soldiers. Thematically, the poems in "Barrack-Room Ballads" cover a wide range of subjects, including patriotism, courage, loyalty, and the harsh realities of war. Kipling explores the human cost of military service, the bonds forged between soldiers, and the often unspoken struggles faced by those who serve their country.

For the modern reader of Kipling's Barrack-Room Ballads - among the most enduringly popular poems ever published in England - some explanation of their contemporary expressions and allusions and their military context is necessary if he is to appreciate them in their full glory. John Whitehead, critic and biographer who himself served with the Indian Army in Burma, has provided this in full measure in his entertaining and scholarly Introduction and comprehensive textual Notes. This Centenary Edition of the ballads is unlikely ever to be superseded.

This, the third book in the Wanderings and Sojourns series, was created in response to requests from people reading sections of the first two volumes: On Five Continents and Three Oceans and On Tropical Islands and Sparkling Seas. Those requests/suggestions were for a book comprised solely of the author's poetry and songs. Within these pages then are 80 such works including several found in the first two volumes but with many more favourites added. Here you will find the love songs that had no place in the previous books, some longer story-poems that themselves recount an entire tale, more parodies of popular songs, sketches of sea-folk, philosophies and insights born from the author's travels previously narrated. Here you will find a wanderer's reflections upon a life of unique experience. The poetic styles crafted are as varied as the themes; from the blunt language of the "lower decks" sailor to an ethereal abstract allowing the reader to add whatever interpretation they will to the meaning; from the nonsense child-like rhymes that carry an adult message to the wistful lament of the broken heart. Each reader will relate many of the poems to their own experiences and perhaps, for just a while, share with the author the spirit of what is written as it disturbs something from deep within their memory, their personal philosophy, their soul....

The fin de siècle not only designated the end of the Victorian epoch but also marked a significant turn towards modernism. Extraordinary Aesthetes critically examines literary and visual artists from England, Ireland, and Scotland whose careers in poetry, fiction, and illustration flourished during the concluding years of the nineteenth century. This collection draws special attention to the exceptional contributions that artists, poets, and novelists made to the cultural world of the late 1880s and 1890s. The essays illuminate a range of established, increasingly acknowledged, and lesser-known figures whose contributions to this brief but remarkably intense cultural period warrant close attention. Such figures include the critically neglected Mabel Dearmer, whose stunning illustrations appear in Evelyn Sharp’s radical fairy tales for children. Equally noteworthy is the uncompromising short fiction of Ella D’Arcy, who played a pivotal role in editing the most famous journal of the 1890s, The Yellow Book. The discussion extends to a range of legendary writers, including Max Beerbohm, Oscar Wilde, and W.B. Yeats, whose works are placed in dialogue with authors who gained prominence during this period. Bringing women’s writing to the fore, Extraordinary Aesthetes rebalances the achievements of artists and writers during the rapidly transforming cultural world of the fin de siècle.

Victorian Literature is a comprehensive and fully annotated anthology with a flexible design that allows teachers and students to pursue traditional or innovative lines of inquiry—from the canon to its extensions and its contexts. Represents the period's major writers of prose, poetry, drama, and more, including Tennyson, Arnold, the Brownings, Carlyle, Ruskin, the Rossettis, Wilde, Eliot, and the Brontës Promotes an ideologically and culturally varied view of Victorian society with the inclusion of women, working-class, colonial, and gay and lesbian writers Incorporates recent scholarship with 5 contextual sections and innovative sub-sections on topics like environmentalism and animal rights; mass literacy and mass media; sex and sexuality; melodrama and comedy; the Irish question; ruling India and the Indian Mutiny and innovations in print culture Emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the field with a focus on social, cultural, artistic, and historical factors Includes a fully annotated companion website for teachers and students offering expanded context sections, additional readings from key writers, appendices, and an extensive bibliography

An overview of Kipling's work, his career and postcolonial views on his often controversial position on imperialism.