mtradiction What parent does not wish the best for a child And what child has not experienced if only for a moment the desire to live up to parental expectations Imagine how such feelings are compounded when children grow up in the shadow of a sibling s death In 1899 Rudyard and Carrie Kipling lost their eldest daughter then six to a sudden illness Their family circle forever changed the Kiplings became even more tightly knit and the two younger children were perhaps more cherished than ever before Elsie and John grew up with a father who doted on them who read to them who answered ceaseless ques tions who indulged their imaginations Yet he also expected great things of them Especially great were Kipling s aspirations for his only son to whom he directed his words with the poem sometime in 1909 before its original publication in 1910 as part of the short story collection Rewards and Fairies Kipling s long fascination with military life began in books and he wanted his son to pursue the naval career he never could Unfortunately for John and his father he inherited Kipling s poor eyesight That seemed to rule out becoming a sailor or soldier A Kipling biographer described young John as a straightforward popular and good natured boy with quick wit a great sense of fun and much charm but with no marked talents Still John was sent to a boarding school for military training at the age of 14 and his devoted dad visited him as ritten often as he could In August 1914 England declared war on Germany and 17 year old John wanted nothing more than to enlist as a private soldier His famous father called in a favor to a friend in charge of a regiment known as the Irish Guards and by mid September John was reporting for duty The boy with no marked talents showed courage beyond his years the following September during the Battle of Loos There he led his battalion across dangerous ground never to return Today If remains one of the most popular poems in its native England and around the world and it is often quoted for its inspirational quality Not only is it an expression of advice to children but it is also a poem that can s to anyone at any stage life if we care to listen in
