Indian bicycle troops on the Fricourt-Mametz road in July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, which lasted from July 1st to November 18th. This engagement cost the British and the Germans about 400,000 lives each, and a further 200,000 to the French. Historian John Buchan argued that the Great War was caused by Germany’s desire for empire, and that ‘she began too late in the day, and could succeed only at the expense of her neighbours’.
‘Recessional’ (1897)
GOD of our fathers, known of old —
Lord of our far-flung battle-line —
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine —
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget — lest we forget!*
The tumult and the shouting dies —
The captains and the kings depart —
Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.*
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!*
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe —
Such boasting as the Gentiles use
Or lesser breeds without the Law* —
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard —
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard* —
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord! Amen.
A reference to Deuteronomy 6:12: ‘Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage’.
A reference to Psalm Psalm 51:17: ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise’.
Nineveh, a city in ancient Assyria close to modern-day Mosul in Iraq, was the city which Jonah was sent to rebuke. Reprieved on that occasion, it was ultimately destroyed: see Nahum 2:16-11. The city of Tyre, now in the Lebanon, was a prosperous commercial centre and consequently besieged often, for example by Nebuchadnezzar from 586-573 BC and by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, who sacked it.
Kipling continues to use the language of the Bible, and of Paul writing as a Jew. Kipling is implying that like Israel, Britain thinks of herself as a favoured nation, and that boastful imperialism should be regarded as severely as St Paul regarded the boasting of his own people. On the Gentiles as peoples without the Law (of Moses) see Romans 2:14; on Gentile boasting, see Luke 22:25.
See Psalm 127:1-2.
Précis
Kipling’s poem, written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, takes the form of a prayer, asking God to teach Britain humility at the height of her Empire. He reminds us that empires fall, that Britain has enjoyed prolonged dominion through God’s help, and that God helps only the humble. He ends by warning that to think empire can be gained or kept through constant warfare is a heathen delusion. (69 / 60 words)