Work
When the word "burden" is right in the title, you know this poem is going to be talking about hard work. According to Kipling's speaker, though, busting your rear is a good thing. He's not about an...
Wildness
At the heart of this poem—and at the heart of all colonial and imperial thinking—is that those who lived life differently than the way white Europeans and Americans did were lesser people. They...
Growing Up
What's got this poem's speaker so worked up? There are a lot of possible answers, but he does seem pretty hung up on the notion that—by heading overseas to teach the world a lesson—these white...