Poetry Challenge #276-Just So Kipling
Rudyard Kipling wrote many books you might recognize: The Jungle Book, Just-So Stories, Captains Courageous.
His playful, imaginative stories belie his miserable childhood. Kipling was born in Mumbai, India on December 30, 1865. When he was barely six, his parents took him to England and left him at a foster home at Southsea. After five years there, he was shipped off to a boarding school, a rough one, with lousy food, teasing, bullying, beating and other cruelties. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.
Kipling also wrote lots of poetry: If, Gunga Din, and Mandalay. His poetry often told a story using rhyming couplets and have been set to music many times over the years showing up in jazz, ragtime, swing, pop, folk, and country music. Frank Sinatra adapted and performed the poem Mandalay.
Poetry Challenge #276
Just So Kipling
Write a narrative poem—one that tells a story—using rhyming couplets. Think of a famous person, place, or historical event and tell a story about it.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, WRITE IT!
Below is your reward—a Video of Frank Sinatra singing Mandalay (the version of which was evidently banned in England because Kipling’s relatives objected to it.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2500+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
