- My Boy Jack (poem)
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My Boy Jack is a 1915 poem by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling wrote it after his beloved son John (called Jack) an 18 year old Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards went missing in September 1915 during the Battle of Loos, during World War I. It was years before Kipling and his family had Jack's death confirmed.
In 1919 a Graves Registration Unit had recorded a burial in St Mary’s Advanced Dressing Station Cemetery at Haisnes as being an "Unknown Lieutenant of the Irish Guards". In 1992, as there were only 3 unidentified Irish Guards officers buried as unknowns in World War I, by a process of elimination the site believed to hold Jack Kipling's body was identified in St. Mary's A.D.S. Cemetery, Haisnes, Pas de Calais and a gravestone erected to replace the previous "Known unto God" headstone.[1][2][3] Five years later, war historians Tonie and Valmai Holt declared that the stone stood over the grave of the wrong man and asked for the case to be reopened.[4] However, in 2010 the Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirmed that the grave is in fact that of Lieutenant John Kipling.[5]
Contents
Text of the poem
“ “Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind —
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.
Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!” Dramatisation
My Boy Jack is the name of a 1997 play written by English actor David Haig. It examines how grief affected Rudyard Kipling and his family following the death of his son, John (known as Jack), at the Battle of Loos in 1915. It includes a recitation of the poem, My Boy Jack.[6] Ben Silverstone first played Jack Kipling on stage, while Daniel Radcliffe took over the role for the ITV screen adaptation of the same name. Haig played Rudyard Kipling in both stage and screen shows.
Musical settings
"My Boy Jack", song for medium voice and piano by Betty Roe. [7]
Neofolk singer Andrew King recorded a song showcasing the lyrics to this poem.
Setting for voice and concertina by Peter Bellamy. [8]
See also
References
- ^ "Casualty Details Kipling, John". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=3078953.
- ^ "The controversy over John Kipling’s burial place". UK National Inventory of War Memorials. 11 December 2007. http://ukniwm.wordpress.com/2007/12/11/the-controversy-over-john-kiplings-burial-place/.
- ^ Holt, Major Tonie, and Valmai Holt, (2001). - My Boy Jack?: The Search for Kipling's Only Son. - London: Leo Cooper. - Pen and Sword Books. - ISBN 9780850528596
- ^ Smith, David. - "'Wrong man' in Kipling son's grave". - The Observer. - (c/o guardian.uk.com). - 4 November 2007.
- ^ "'The controversy over John Kipling’s burial place". - 11 December 2007.
- ^ Selby, Al. - News: Review My Boy Jack. - bensilverstone.net.
- ^ Seven Songs by Betty Roe - Thames Publishing 1993.
- ^ Recorded on the LP "Keep on Kipling" (FE 032) Side 2, track 6.
External links
Categories:- Poetry by Rudyard Kipling
- World War I poems
- 1915 poems
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