Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Rudyard Kipling: author of The Jungle Book shares a poem

The first and youngest English-language writer to be named a Nobel laureate

A Legend of Truth

  • Once on a time, the ancient legends tell, 
  • Truth, rising from the bottom of her well, 
  • Looked on the world, but, hearing how it lied, 
  • Returned to her seclusion horrified. 
  • There she abode, so conscious of her worth, 
  • Not even Pilate’s Question called her forth, 
  • Nor Galileo, kneeling to deny 
  • The Laws that hold our Planet ‘neath the sky. 
  • Meantime, her kindlier sister, whom men call 
  • Fiction, did all her work and more than all, 
  • With so much zeal, devotion, tact, and care, 
  • That no one noticed Truth was otherwhere.
  • Then came a War when, bombed and gassed and mined,
  • Truth rose once more, perforce, to meet mankind, 
  • And through the dust and glare and wreck of things,
  • Beheld a phantom on unbalanced wings, 
  • Reeling and groping, dazed, dishevelled, dumb, 
  • But semaphoring direr deeds to come.
  • Truth hailed and bade her stand; the quavering shade
  • Clung to her knees and babbled, “Sister, aid! 
  • I am—I was—thy Deputy, and men 
  • Besought me for my useful tongue or pen 
  • To gloss their gentle deeds, and I complied, 
  • And they, and thy demands, were satisfied. 
  • But this—” she pointed o’er the blistered plain,
  • Where men as Gods and devils wrought amain— 
  • “This is beyond me! Take thy work again.”
  • Tablets and pen transferred, she fled afar, 
  • And Truth assumed the record of the War... 
  • She saw, she heard, she read, she tried to tell 
  • Facts beyond precedent and parallel— 
  • Unfit to hint or breathe, much less to write, 
  • But happening every minute, day and night. 
  • She called for proof. It came. The dossiers grew.
  • She marked them, first, “Return. This can’t be true.”
  • Then, underneath the cold official word:
  • “This is not really half of what occurred.”
  • She faced herself at last, the story runs, 
  • And telegraphed her sister: “Come at once. 
  • Facts out of hand. Unable overtake
  • Without your aid. Come back for Truth’s own sake!
  • Co-equal rank and powers if you agree.
  • They need us both, but you far more than me!”
Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is one of the best known and, especially in his day, most popular of English poets and fiction writers. Born in India, which he always considered his native land, Kipling drew much of his inspiration for his writings from the subcontinent. The author of The Jungle Book (1894) and Kim (1901) and the poems “If” (c. 1895) and “Gunga Din” (1890), Kipling received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 at the age of 41, making him the first English-language writer and the youngest writer to be named a Nobel laureate.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village

A Legend of Truth

  • Once on a time, the ancient legends tell, 
  • Truth, rising from the bottom of her well, 
  • Looked on the world, but, hearing how it lied, 
  • Returned to her seclusion horrified. 
  • There she abode, so conscious of her worth, 
  • Not even Pilate’s Question called her forth, 
  • Nor Galileo, kneeling to deny 
  • The Laws that hold our Planet ‘neath the sky. 
  • Meantime, her kindlier sister, whom men call 
  • Fiction, did all her work and more than all, 
  • With so much zeal, devotion, tact, and care, 
  • That no one noticed Truth was otherwhere.
  • Then came a War when, bombed and gassed and mined,
  • Truth rose once more, perforce, to meet mankind, 
  • And through the dust and glare and wreck of things,
  • Beheld a phantom on unbalanced wings, 
  • Reeling and groping, dazed, dishevelled, dumb, 
  • But semaphoring direr deeds to come.
  • Truth hailed and bade her stand; the quavering shade
  • Clung to her knees and babbled, “Sister, aid! 
  • I am—I was—thy Deputy, and men 
  • Besought me for my useful tongue or pen 
  • To gloss their gentle deeds, and I complied, 
  • And they, and thy demands, were satisfied. 
  • But this—” she pointed o’er the blistered plain,
  • Where men as Gods and devils wrought amain— 
  • “This is beyond me! Take thy work again.”
  • Tablets and pen transferred, she fled afar, 
  • And Truth assumed the record of the War... 
  • She saw, she heard, she read, she tried to tell 
  • Facts beyond precedent and parallel— 
  • Unfit to hint or breathe, much less to write, 
  • But happening every minute, day and night. 
  • She called for proof. It came. The dossiers grew.
  • She marked them, first, “Return. This can’t be true.”
  • Then, underneath the cold official word:
  • “This is not really half of what occurred.”
  • She faced herself at last, the story runs, 
  • And telegraphed her sister: “Come at once. 
  • Facts out of hand. Unable overtake
  • Without your aid. Come back for Truth’s own sake!
  • Co-equal rank and powers if you agree.
  • They need us both, but you far more than me!”
Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is one of the best known and, especially in his day, most popular of English poets and fiction writers. Born in India, which he always considered his native land, Kipling drew much of his inspiration for his writings from the subcontinent. The author of The Jungle Book (1894) and Kim (1901) and the poems “If” (c. 1895) and “Gunga Din” (1890), Kipling received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 at the age of 41, making him the first English-language writer and the youngest writer to be named a Nobel laureate.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Victorian Christmas Tours, Jingle Bell Cruises

Events December 22-December 25, 2024
Next Article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader