Mr. Rudyard Kipling's lines on " The Dead King "
published on Wednesday express finely the opportunities which fell to the lot of King Edward and the use that he made of them "The peculiar treasure of Kings was his for the taking, All that men come to in dreams he inherited waking."
Yet "As he received so he gave—nothing grudged, naught denying, Not even the last gasp of his breath when he strove for us, dying. For our sakes, without question, he put from him all that he cherished.
Simply as any that serve him he served and he perished. All that Kings covet was his, and he flung it aside for us. Simply as any that die in his service he died for us."
In thought and temper the verses are thoroughly representative
of Mr. Kipling. We cannot help thinking, however, that by committing himself to a system of double rhymes and long lines he has sacrificed the simplicity and the directness of appeal which he achieved in the " Recessional."
