[IronJack]

It's not exactly iambic pentameter, like the original. But it gets the message across.

Kipling is one of my favorites. As a novelist, not so much. But as a poet, he ranks with the best.

[Twotone]

I loved Kipling - poet & novelist. It caused me to have an affection for other countries & a respect for other cultures. Why do people today not understand that? He may have been speaking from his own culture, but he understood (& I think, sympathized) with other cultures.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"As a novelist, not so much."

What about Kim and Captains Courageous? IMO, Kim is one of the greatest English Language novels. It ranks up there with Huckelberry Finn. He didn't actually write that many novels. He was mostly a short story writer and there are a lot of great ones and collections of short stories (Junglebook stories and Plain Tales from the Hills).