4 MAY 1918, Page 16

Twenty Poems from Rudyard Kipling. (Methuen and Co. Is. net.)—Mr.

Kipling's posy of twenty poems gathered from his works will be very welcome, especially to our sailors and soldiers on active service. His choice includes " Gunga Din "—but not " Cabul River," much to our regret ; " Our Lady of the Snows," " South Africa," " The Long Trail," and " Big Steamers "—written in 1910, but truly prophetic in its warning :—

" For the bread that you eat and the biscuits you nibble, The sweets that you suck and the joints- that you carve: They are brought to you daily by All Us Big Steamers, And if anyone hinders our coming you'll starve ! "

The little book opens with " The Sons of Martha," and closes with " For All We Have and Are "—the finest and most stimulating of the patriotic poems to which the war has given birth. We are glad to see also that Mr. Kipling has included " The Holy War," which was first published a few weeks ago, and which points the moral expressed by the French in the maxim that victory is certain " provided that the civilians hold out."