2. What is an epitaph?
• (1) A short inscription in prose or verse on a
tombstone or monument.
(2) A statement or speech commemorating
someone who has died: (a funeral oration).
3. Why did Kipling write epitaphs?
• Kipling was deeply affected by the death of his only son John just six
weeks after his 18th birthday; on September 27th 1915. He was
killed during the battle of Loos. On October 2nd, Rudyard and
Carrie Kipling were notified that their only son was “missing,
presumed killed”. Over the next few weeks and months, they tried
desperately to ascertain whether John was wounded, or a prisoner
of war. But despite the assistance of many figures of authority, as
well as several of John’s fellow officers, nothing concrete could be
discovered. his body was never found. Several of the ‘Epitaphs’
refer to sons.
• In 1917, Kipling became a member of the Imperial (now
Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, and also was
commissioned to write the official war history of the Irish Guards,
which was published in 1923. No longer could he write poetry or
prose which promoted the war, and as a result, his 1919 Epitaphs of
War were released.
4. Kipling’s Inspiration
• Kipling modelled his Epitaphs of War on The Greek
Anthology - a collection of short poems, some
written as far back as the sixth century BC. The
earliest ones are epitaphs – memorial inscriptions for
tombs. The most famous is Simonides’ contemporary
epitaph for the 300 Spartans who fought and died at
Thermopylae against the Persian invasion in 480 BC:
Go tell the Spartans, thou that passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
5. The Epitaphs of War I Will Be Analysing
• Convoy Escort
• Unknown Female Corpse
• Raped and Revenged
• Salonikan Grave
• The Bridegroom
They are on pages 218-219.
6. Convoy - A naval ship(s) or aircraft in
company with a convoy and responsible
for its protection.
Epitaph 1
‘Shepherd’ – Metaphor for death. Death ‘guided’ soldiers to hell.
Escort - An escort to protect a convoy of The use of ‘fools’ presents the cold heart that death holds and
vehicles from being scattered, destroyed, the dismissiveness death has for the soldiers. Death held no
or captured. mercy for soldiers and was at it’s upmost power during World
War One. However, the use of ‘was’ suggests that death is no
longer a ruler over the soldiers.
Convoy Escort
The division that occurred within the soldiers who fought
I was a shepherd to fools during the war, who were either bold or afraid. The ‘bold’
presents the soldiers who were willing to fight for their
Causelessly bold or afraid. country regardless of death; holding a patriotism for their
They would not abide by my rules. duty. The ‘afraid’ were the soldiers who yearned to escape and
were hopefully of escaping death. Here, death is negative of
Yet they escaped. For I stayed. both divisions. The use of the adverb ‘causelessly’ reiterates
the pity death held and the loss of justification on these
‘characters.’
Death’s use of ‘they would not’ is subjective to the soldiers.
The use of ‘not abide’ is incredibly harrowing towards the
This line is incredibly negative and here, soldiers. The use of ‘they’ is very general, as death holds no
the soldiers have in fact ‘escaped.’ The feelings of compassion or love for these soldiers. The use of
soldiers have pulled away from the wrath ‘my rules’ mirrors the possession and importance that death
of death. Death sees the soldiers as holds over soldiers. Soldiers are helpless when presented
players in the ‘game.’ Justice has been before death and death is a major factor within war. This line
made and this time, the soldiers have is incredibly negative and here, the soldiers have in fact
declared victory. The use of ‘yet’ presents ‘escaped.’ This lures a neurotic tone because the soldiers have
the weak character that death is and the pulled away from the wrath of death. Death sees the soldiers
phrase ‘I stayed’ is the acceptance of that. as players in the ‘game.’ Justice has been made and this time,
the soldiers have declared victory.
7. Structure
• Quartet - The rhyme scheme is A,B,A,B. The
rhyme Kipling provides emphasises the last words
of each line – fools, afraid, rules, stayed. As the
reader, it gives us the sense of the speaker’s
character.
• Syllables – 7 on each line. 8 on line 3. This is
significant as a turning point. There is a change of
tone to the epitaph. On line 3, the speaker is
neurotic in tone and no longer are the soldiers
giving away their souls to death .
8. Unknown –Creates mystery to the
epitaph. Female Corpse – A dead body.
Has no identity.
Epitaph 2
Kipling’s introductory images of the unknown female
corpse ‘headless, lacking foot and hand’ is quite
grotesque. A ‘foot and hand’ are seen as the prime
Unknown Female Corpse vital necessities within life. The female has been
Headless, lacking foot and hand, ‘decapitated, having no head.’ These have been taken
through the process of death and violence having
Horrible I come to land. inflicted. Kipling has created an image of a ‘headless
woman.’ This makes the reader feel empathetic, as a
I beseech all women's sons woman holds so many qualities. A woman can be a
mother, a daughter, a sister, a cousin. The list is endless.
Know I was a mother once. The fact that this female’s ownership and importance
has been taken away is tragic. Again, she is ‘unknown’,
so she is not deemed an ‘individual.’
Horrible – The perception of the female as a
corpse. She has been robbed of life and beauty.
Beseech all women’s sons – She is begging The use of ‘I come to land’ creates an
towards all sons who have a mother. The female omniscient, powerful voice as she is speaking
is pleading to make her stance. from the dead. The female has ‘come to land’,
Know I was a mother once – She had the showing she is standing up to society in order
wonderful gift of having children and now her for her voice to be heard.
child/children are experiencing agony and
hearbreak. This epitaph is again very
empowering like Epitaph 1 and has a running
theme of feminism and the rights a female
holds in society.
9. Structure
• Quartet - The rhyme scheme is A,A,B,B. The
sound of ‘and’ in ‘land’ and ‘hand’ is quite short.
Whereas, the sound of ‘sons’ and ‘once’ holds an
assonance. The ‘s’ sound is prolonged and has
more emphasis. The negative sound of these
words mirrors the tragedy of the epitaph.
• Syllables – 7 on each line.
• The sound of beseech ‘eech’ – Prolonged sound
strengthens her voice being heard and sounds
discomforting. She wants the sons to feel her
pain.
10. Rape - The crime of forcing another
person to submit to sex acts, especially
Epitaph 3
sexual intercourse. Revenge - The action of inflicting hurt or
Abusive or improper treatment harm on someone for a wrong suffered at
their hands. One used – Sees this female as a toy, who
can be hurt.
Butchered me – The male is being
Raped And Revenged animalistic and barbaric towards the
One used and butchered me: another spied female. Sees her flesh as a piece of meat,
which can be used for his own pleasure
Me broken - for which thing an hundred died. (the act of rape). The female has a leash,
belonging to a male of a violent manner.
So it was learned among the heathen hosts Another spied – Her body is not just being
used for the pleasure of one male, but
How much a freeborn woman’s favour costs. another. During war, many soldiers were
Me broken – Chilling image of the needy for sex, as it was a distraction away
female’s physique and body having from their duties as a soldiers. The other
broken bones. With serving these men, male who is watching is most likely doing
her physical appearance has withered and so to essentially ‘fit’ in with the other
she has become weak. The broken ‘bones’ soldiers and for entertainment purposes.
foreshadows the female’s position has a
dog bone to the ‘pack’ of soldiers. The soldiers were dying in their hundreds.
How much a freeborn woman’s favour
costs – The act of rape on these women The heathen hosts – Kipling’s description of the soldiers
have as an effect, punished these men for involved in rape. The use of ‘heathen’ is offensive, as the
their wrongdoings in death. The women men are being described as a irreligious, uncivilised, and
have gained their revenge over the unenlightened group. They are going against God; during
soldiers. The use of ‘favour costs’ suggests this era where religion was a vital part of many lives. The
that no act of rape is for free. There will use of ‘host’ depicts the men as receiving the sexual
always be an outcome. entertainment and not giving anything in return.
11. Structure
• Quartet – The rhyme scheme is A,A,B,B.
• Iambic Pentameter – 10 syllables per line. The 10
syllables could be an underlying representation of
the 10 commandments which are to be obeyed
within Christianity. These soldiers are going against
the 10 commandments and have eventually
experienced greater pain than the women
• The alliteration of ‘h’ presents the weak tone of voice
the speaker has.
12. People from the city of Thessaloniki (city in Greece)
Epitaph 4
The speaker has ‘watched a thousand days’, so they have been
observing the environment around them. They have been
‘watching’ analysing every detail. This presents the concept of
Salonikan Grave time and nature being an ongoing cycle; despite war. The skies
were a measure of time for the soldiers.
I have watched a thousand days
‘Push out and crawl’ – Personification of a ‘thousand days.’ The
Push out and crawl into night connotations of crawl are animal like and the connotations of
push out is that the days are a force. So, slowly days crawl into
Slowly as tortoises. night. This presents war being the ‘night’ that overshadows and
Now I, too, follow these. darkens life, losing all hope and light.
It is fever, and not the fight— This simile shows that war gradually builds up to a crescendo in a
slow manner. This creates an eerie atmosphere.
Time, not battle - that slays.
‘Not the fight’ – Violence is not to blame for problems. It is down
to ‘fever’: sickness and ill health. Fever more likely ‘slays’
‘Time, not battle’ – Time ‘slays’, causing destruction and
catastrophe. Time is evil in that it will always be there through
hardship of war. So, time can be cruel in that it can immediately
shorten your days.
13. Structure
• Sestet (6 line poem)
• Syllables – 6 on each line, 8 lines on line 5.
• There is emphasis on this line because there is a
change in tone. At the beginning, the tone was
quite calm and dreamy due to the theme of
nature. But, on line 5, we see the phrase ‘not the
fight’. The speaker is being supportive of the
violence and sees it as a duty.
• The use of commas and hyphens are effective as
it marks that the phrase is important and the
epitaph is viewed as increasingly more powerful.
14. Male on his wedding day
Epitaph 5
Displays the male narrator’s affection for his bride – use of ‘beloved.’
‘Call me not false’ – Affirmation of his love; also an apology of his
The Bridegroom unfaithfulness in their relationship (flux between his bride and
Call me not false, beloved, death).
If, from thy scarce-known breast ‘Breast’ – Admiring his lover’s body
So little time removed, ‘In other arms I rest’ – ‘Other arms’ metaphorically represent death. Kipling
In other arms I rest. is personifying death as owning arms. The use of ‘I rest’ presents death as
almost being a rebound for the narrator. Here, death is darkly romanticised.
Death depicted as an ‘ancient bride’. The use of ‘ancient’
For this more ancient bride personifies death as being much older than the narrator and his
Whom coldly I embrace newly found bride. The use of ‘coldly I embrace’ presents the
‘passion’ that is shared and death is luring him towards the
Was constant at my side grave. It is done so ‘coldly’, showing that death has stolen the
Before I saw thy face. bridegroom from his bride.
Death was constant at his side during the war, showing
that death was chasing him and he could not escape.
Our marriage, often set— This was before he saw ‘thy face’ (his bride’s face). He
By miracle delayed— feels his true love is in fact death.
The use of ‘our marriage, often set’ means he was destined to be
At last is consummate, with his new ‘bride’ death in the grave. He was likely to be killed
And cannot be unmade. at any time, but it was ‘delayed’ being a miracle he lived so long.
It is now ‘consummate’ (perfect) because he is finally with his
bride in the grave. It cannot be ‘unmade’ which presents his
Live, then, whom life shall cure. death being irreversible, but also that he has ‘eternal love’ with
Almost, of memory, his bride.
The last stanza is chilling as he expected to endure ‘immortality’ -
And leave us to endure eternity with his bride-death. His bride living on may forget him
Its immortality.
15. Structure
• This is the longest epitaph – having four stanzas.
• The use of enjambment could symbolise the
movement of the soldier flowing towards his
grave.
• The use of the hyphens next to ‘set’ and ‘delayed’
provide a delay for the reader. This mirrors the
delay the male narrator experienced to his grave.
• The use of full stops at the end of each stanza
creates a chilling atmosphere, due to the abrupt
ending.
