Stories and Poems

Rudyard Kipling
Edited by Daniel Karlin

Oxford World's Classics

This is a unique anthology combining the best of Kipling's short fiction and verse across the full range of his career
Previously published in the authoritative Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode, and reissued with an up-to-date bibliography
Comprehensive selection from most of Kipling's published collections of short stories and poems covering British India and army life as well as responses to age and bereavement after the First World War
Two appendices further explore Kipling's attitude to India and the British army
Reproduces Kipling's illustrations for 'The Cat that Walked by Himself' and the map of the Punjab referred to in 'The Man who would be King'
Introduction, comprehensive annotation, chronology of the author, indexes

Stories and Poems

Rudyard Kipling
Edited by Daniel Karlin

Description

'Hear and attend and listen...'

Rudyard Kipling is a supreme master of the short story in English and a poet of brilliant gifts. His energy and inventiveness poured themselves into every kind of tale, from the bleakest of fables to the richest of comedies, and he illuminated every aspect of human behaviour, of which he was a fascinated (and sometimes appalled) observer. This generous selection of stories and poems, first published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series, covers the full range of Kipling's career from the youthful volumes that brought him fame as the chronicler of British India, to the bittersweet fruits of age and bereavement in the aftermath of the First World War. It includes stories such as 'The Man who would be King', 'Mrs Bathurst', and 'Mary Postgate', and poems from Barrack-Room Ballads and other collections.

In his introduction and notes Daniel Karlin addresses the controversial political engagement of Kipling's art, and the sources of its imaginative power.

About the Series:
For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Stories and Poems

Rudyard Kipling
Edited by Daniel Karlin

Oxford World's Classics

Author Information

Daniel Karlin has taught at University College London, Boston University and the University Sheffield before taking up his current post at the University of Bristol. He has published widely in Victorian literature, including editions of Robert Browning and books including Browning's Hatreds , Proust's English, and The Figure of the Singer. He has edited FitzGerald'sRubáiyát of Omar Khayyám for Oxford World's Classics.

Stories and Poems

Rudyard Kipling
Edited by Daniel Karlin

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

"Our fathers lied": Rudyard Kipling as a war poet

The privileged poets of the Great War are those who fought in it'Rosenberg, Owen, Sassoon. This is natural and human, but it is not fair. Kipling is one of the finest poets of the War, but he writes as a parent, a civilian, a survivor'all three of them compromised positions.

Posted on December 29, 2015

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How the stories got their name: Kipling and the origins of the 'Just-So' stories

The storyteller has always been a figure of magic, and the circle a magic figure. This is Rudyard Kipling, casting his spell around 1902, the year the Just So Stories for Little Children were published. He is on a liner sailing from Southampton to Cape Town in South Africa, where the Kipling family had taken to spending the winter.

Posted on December 23, 2015

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Something of myself: the early life of Rudyard Kipling

'My first impression is of daybreak, light and colour and golden and purple fruits at the level of my shoulder.' With this beautiful sentence, so characteristic in its fusion of poetry and physical, bodily detail, Rudyard Kipling evokes the fruit-market in Bombay, the city (now Mumbai) where he was born in 1865.

Posted on December 9, 2015

Read the blog post

Stories and Poems

Rudyard Kipling
Edited by Daniel Karlin

Oxford World's Classics

Audio Guide

"Hear and attend and listen..."

Rudyard Kipling is a supreme master of the short story in English and a poet of brilliant gifts. His energy and inventiveness poured themselves into every kind of tale, from the bleakest of fables to the richest of comedies, and he illuminated every aspect of human behaviour, of which he was a fascinated (and sometimes appalled) observer.

In this new edition, Professor Daniel Karlin addresses the controversial political engagement of Kipling's art, and the sources of its imaginative power.

To listen to Daniel Karlin, editor of the Oxford World’s Classics edition, introduce Rudyard Kipling and this edition of Stories and Poems click on the links below.

Kipling's early life

The young Rudyard Kipling was born in British India in 1865. His idyllic childhood in India was shattered when his parents decided to take him away to England aged five, and leave him in the hands of a brutally strict landlady. This experience scars him for life, but also feeds his writing.

The India of Kipling's birth [1:08]