"What of the Hunting, Hunter Bold" Explication

What of the Hunting, Hunter Bold by Rudyard Kipling

What of the hunting, hunter bold?

Brother, the watch was long and cold.

What of the quarry ye went to kill?

Brother, he crops in the jungle still.

Where is the power that made your pride?

Brother, it ebbs from my flank and side.

Where is the haste that ye hurry by?

Brother, I go to my lair to die!

This is one of the many poems written by Rudyard Kipling, the author of such famous works as The Jungle Book and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Published in 1894 in his story collection The Jungle Book, it is one of his better-known works of poetry. Like so much of his literature, it is themed around the natural world and its inhabitants. The poem has two speakers, a pair of predatory animals that are likely tigers, and is written as a conversation between them. As such, the audience changes as well; when one speaks, the other becomes the audience.

The poem describes a meeting between these two hunters. The first queries as to how the hunt went for the other, to be told that it was “long and cold”. The first asks the second about the fate of his prey, only to hear that it has escaped harm. The first notices that the second seems powerless, and is told that strength is ebbing from wounds in his comrade. Finally, the first asks why the second is hurrying past. The response is that the injured hunter is heading home to die in peace.

This poem is relatively low on descriptive and figurative language, as is most of Kipling’s poetry. He focused more on action and less on visuals. This keeps the poem exciting, but also makes it a bit harder to envision the situation. Fortunately, the poem is relatively easy to understand due to its simple vocabulary and even, steady rhythm with a simple A-A-B-B rhyme scheme.

The tone of this piece is very melancholy in the way that the one hunter describes his failure and approaching death. This fits very well with this poem’s theme; even the strongest can fall. Nature is cruel, and success and survival are never certain. The same is true for humans. We have no knowledge of the future, and we are just as vulnerable as animals.

I chose to include this poem because of my mother. She has always loved Kipling’s work, and enjoys hearing me read it. As such, I thought I would include a tribute to her in the form of a break-down of a poem by one of her favorite writers. So, Mom, this is for you.