The Five Nations

In 1903, the United Kingdom consisted of four nations: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It was soon suggested that Kipling's "five nations" were the "five free nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa [i.e. Cape Colony], and 'the islands of the sea' [i.e. the British Isles]" {{cite journal |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1903/12/mr-kiplings-five-nations/306596/ |title=Mr. Kipling's Five Nations |first=Bliss |author-link=Bliss Perry |last=Perry |date=December 1903 |journal=The Atlantic |accessdate=6 April 2017}}—all dominated by Britons; and except in the last case, by recent settlers. That suggestion was endorsed some one hundred years later.{{cite web |url=http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_fivenations_background.htm |title= The Five Nations: A note on the background |first=Mary |last=Hamer |website=The Kipling Society |date=6 August 2014 |accessdate=5 April 2017}}

In an early (1903) review, American critic Bliss Perry delicately called The Five Nations both "a notable collection" and "singularly restricted in range of interest".

{{complete list|date=December 2022}}

The poems are divided into two groups. The first is untitled, and covers a wide range of subjects. The second is titled "Service Songs", and mostly relates to the real or imagined experiences of common British soldiers around the turn of the 20th century.

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• "Dedication"
• "The Sea and the Hills"
• "The Bell Buoy"
• "Cruisers"A cruiser is a warship.
• "The Destroyers"A destroyer is a warship.
• "White Horses"White horses are wind-driven waves of the sea, crowned with white foam.
• "The Second Voyage"
• "The Dykes"
• "The Song of Diego Valdez"{{ill|Diego Menéndez de Valdés|es}} (1533–1596), Spanish conquistador.
• "The Broken Men"
• "The Feet of the Young Men"
• "The Truce of the Bear"
• "The Old Men"
• "The Explorer"
• "The Wage-Slaves"
• "The Burial"
• "General Joubert"An epitaph on Piet Joubert (1831/34 – 1900), Boer general.
• "The Palace"
• "Sussex"Allegedly, the inspiration for the song "Sussex by the Sea".
• "Song of the Wise Children"
• "Buddha at Kamakura"Kamakura, Japan, known for its ancient Buddhist shrines.
• "The White Man's Burden"
• "Pharaoh and the Sergeant"
• "Our Lady of the Snows"
• "'Et Dona Ferentes'"
• "Kitchener's School"Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916).
• "The Young Queen"
• "Rimmon"Rimmon, a Syrian deity mentioned in the Hebrew Bible at 2 Kings 5:18, usually equated to Baal.
• "The Old Issue"
• "Bridge-Guard in the Karroo"Karroo, a semi-desert region of South Africa.
• "The Lesson"
• "The Files"
• "The Reformers"
• "Dirge of Dead Sisters"
• "The Islanders"
• "The Peace of Dives"Dives, the rich man in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
• "South Africa"
• "The Settler"

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• "Chant-Pagan"
• "M.I."M.I. were mounted infantry.
• "Columns"
• "The Parting of the Columns"
• "Two Kopjes"A kopje is an isolated rocky hill or outcrop in the South African plains.
• "The Instructor"
• "Boots"
• "The Married Man"
• "Lichtenberg"Lichtenburg, South Africa.
• "Stellenbosh"Stellenbosch is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), it was a British military base. Officers who had failed to distinguish themselves in battle were posted there.
• "Half-Ballad of Waterval"Waterval, South Africa.
• "Piet"
• "'Wilful-Missing'"
• "Ubique"
• "The Return"
• "Recessional"

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{{wikisource|The Five Nations}}

• {{librivox book | title=The Five Nations| author=Kipling}}

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Category:1903 poetry books

Category:Poetry by Rudyard Kipling

Category:English poetry collections