He was the poet laureate at the time, and this little verse just about got him ridden out of Great Britain on a rail. You cannot read it in the context of the Diamond Jubilee without thinking that Kipling was absolutely fearless. Here, at the height of the second British Empire, and apropos of our own time in the United States, I give it in full:
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung batle-line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine -
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law -
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word -
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
It caused an absolute furor. The Edward Saids of the world disapproved then just as they disapprove of Kim now. And for the same reason - it's just too complex for them.