19 JULY 1935, Page 6

, Mr. Rudyard Kipling's poem . on the King with his

fleet is announced as appearing thirty-eight years to the , day after "The Recessional.'" It is hardly a charity to invite the coniparison, for the two poems are, frankly, hemispheres apart. One belongs to the category, of un- dying verse, the other is accurately enough assessed by the type in which The Times set it up. Where, it may be asked, is Mr. Maseficld ? It used to be part of the Poet Laureate's function to produce ceremonial Poetry' on great occasions, and the present -Poet Laureate was 'Once a sailor himself. But silence is often ••golden—even when Mr. Kipling breaks it.