A Death-Bed

"A Death-Bed" is a poem by English poet and writer Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). It was first published in April 1919, in the collection The Years Between. Later publications identified the year of writing as 1918.[1][2] Kipling's only son, John, had been reported missing in action in 1915, during the Battle of Loos. Kipling was grief-stricken. "A Death-Bed" has been described as "the most savage poem Kipling ever wrote",[1] and as "overtly distasteful".[2]

"A Death-Bed" consists of 10 ABAB quatrains, with four stresses per line. It interweaves three voices:

  1. In quotation marks: an absolute monarch, suffering from throat cancer.
  2. In italics: a group of doctors attending the monarch.
  3. In plain text: a commentator.

The monarch vehemently asserts his absolute power. The doctors, consulting between themselves, discuss his condition; and recommend opiates, because it is too late for surgery. The commentator mentions instances of the horrors of war, in particular of World War I; most are unspecific, but the line "Some die saintly in faith and hope— / One died thus in a prison-yard—" may refer to the nurse and saint Edith Cavell (1865-1915).

The final line names the monarch as "All-Highest", a supposed title of the German Emperor: it is therefore Kaiser Wilhelm, who had been reported (incorrectly) to be suffering from the throat cancer which had killed his father, Kaiser Frederick.

References

  1. 1 2 Holberton, Philip; Radcliffe, John. "A Death-Bed". Kipling Society. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 Martyris, Nina (25 September 2015). "When Rudyard Kipling's Son Went Missing". The New Yorker. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  • "A Death-Bed, by Rudyard Kipling". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2017.


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