Recessional (poem)

Description

“Recessional” contains five stanzas of six lines each. A.W. Yates sees comparisons of form and phrase in Thomas Wyatt's "Forget not yet". As a recessional is a hymn or piece of music that is sung or played at the end of a religious service, in some respects the title dictates the form of the poem, which is that of a traditional English hymn.

Initially, Kipling had not intended to write a poem for the Jubilee. It was written and published only towards the close of the Jubilee celebrations, and represents a comment on them, an afterword. The poem was first published in The Times on July 17 1897.

The poem went against the celebratory mood of the time, providing instead a reminder of the transient nature of British Imperial power. The poem expresses both pride in the British Empire, but also an underlying sadness that the Empire might go the way of all previous empires. "The title and its allusion to an end rather than a beginning add solemnity and gravitas to Kipling's message." In the poem, Kipling argues that boasting and jingoism, faults of which he was often accused, were inappropriate and vain in light of the permanence of God.

Publication

After its initial publication, "Recessional" was reprinted in The Spectator, on July 24, 1897. Kipling had previously composed his more famous poem "The White Man's Burden" for Victoria's jubilee, but replaced it with "Recessional". "Burden" was published two years later, modified to fit the theme of the American expansion after the Spanish–American War.

In Australia and New Zealand "Recessional" is sung as a hymn on Anzac Day, to the tune "Melita" ("Eternal Father, Strong to Save").

The Anglican Church of Canada adopted "Recessional" as a hymn and a unique musical version of the hymn is included in the 1985 hymnal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.