Author: Rudyard Kipling

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Securely, after days
Unnumbered, I behold
Kings mourn that promised praise
Their cheating bards foretold.

Of earth constricting Wars,
Of Princes passed in chains,
Of deeds out-shining stars,
No word or voice remains.

Yet furthest times receive,
And to fresh praise restore,
Mere breath of flutes at eve,
Mere seaweed on the shore.

A smoke of sacrifice;
A chosen myrtle-wreath;
An harlot's altered eyes;
A rage 'gainst love or death;

Glazed snow beneath the moon,
The surge of storm-bowed trees,
The Caesars perished soon,
And Rome Herself: But these

Endure while Empires fall
And Gods for Gods make room....
Which greater God than all
Imposed the amazing doom?

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Type of Poem: Meditative Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: Rudyard Kipling’s "The Survival" is a Philosophical Meditative Poem with strong elements of Elegy and Timeless Reflection. In this powerful meditation, Kipling contrasts the ephemeral nature of political power, military glory, and human empires with the quiet, almost accidental survival of small, intimate moments and sensations—music at dusk, seaweed on the shore, the look in a lover's eyes. The central theme is the paradox that while kings, empires, and monumental deeds vanish without a trace, fleeting, often uncelebrated aspects of human emotion and natural beauty persist across the ages. Kipling invites the reader to question what truly endures, and suggests that it is not the works of great rulers but the minor, almost incidental expressions of human experience that survive time's destruction.

The tone of the poem is somber, philosophical, and filled with a kind of awe at the quiet power of survival. Kipling’s imagery deliberately juxtaposes grand historical references—"Princes passed in chains," "Caesars perished soon"—with delicate, ephemeral images like the "breath of flutes at eve" and "seaweed on the shore." This contrast emphasizes the smallness of human ambition in the face of time’s vastness. Structurally, the poem progresses through a series of compressed, vivid images, each encapsulating something transient yet enduring, culminating in the final, almost mystical question: what greater force—what "greater God"—has imposed this astonishing reversal of human expectation?

The poem’s rhythm is spare and tightly controlled, with short, compact lines that lend the meditation a grave, inexorable momentum. Kipling’s choice of examples—the harlot's glance, the snow glazed by moonlight, the surge of bowed trees—points toward a deeper reverence for the transient, almost unnoticed beauties of existence over the violent, ambitious constructions of empire. Historically, written in the aftermath of Britain's imperial zenith and amid growing disillusionment with worldly power, "The Survival" captures Kipling's mature skepticism about the value of fame, conquest, and domination.

Ultimately, "The Survival" is a profound reflection on the ironies of history, suggesting that true immortality belongs not to empire-builders but to fragile, deeply human moments that speak across time. Kipling crafts a haunting vision of endurance that challenges the conventional measures of greatness, honoring the persistence of beauty, emotion, and fleeting wonder over the ruins of civilization.