[54] _Carducci: a Selection of His Poems_ by G. L. Bickersteth, London and New York, 1913. By permission of Longmans, Green & Co. CHAPTER VI THE WRITINGS OF RUDYARD KIPLING BEFORE AND AFTER THE AWARD The prize of 1907 has been awarded: Kipling, Rudyard, born 1865: “in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, and also the manly strength in the art of perception and delineation that characterize the writings of this world-renowned author.”[55] Six years passed after the first prizes were given in literature from the Nobel fund; the countries honored thus far had been France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Italy, and Poland. “Where is Great Britain on the literary map?” asked certain speakers and writers. Names of British authors had been sent to the Committee of the Nobel Foundation and the Swedish Academy, with ardent commendation by individuals and academic circles. Prominent among such names, suggested in the press, had been Swinburne, George Meredith, John Morley, Thomas Hardy, Barrie, and Robert Bridges. One journal asked, “Why not Kipling?” The answer came in the announcement that the award for 1907 was given to Rudyard Kipling, poet and story-teller. Again the issue, “What is Idealism?” was raised and challenged by some opponents of this choice yet, on the whole, it met with wide favor. Kipling’s type of robust idealism was defended; said W. B. Parker, “His idealism needs no other evidence than the enthusiastic following he has had from boys.”[56] Combined with this _robust idealism_ are two other qualities of Kipling as writer, that have given him “the enthusiastic following of boys”--his virility and courage. For adolescents and college youths he has upheld the ideals of vigorous action, of honor and bravery, of daring in speech and deed. In his dynamic poems and tales of _The Day’s Work_, _Kim_, _Life’s Handicap_, and the other volumes so familiar, he reflects his “gospel” of fearlessness, that does not hesitate to shock some who abide by the conventional standards of speech. Gilbert K. Chesterton has said forceful truths about this trait of Kipling in _Heretics_: he affirms that credit is due to Kipling for his appreciation of _slang_ and _steam_. He expands the thought thus: “Steam may be, if you like, a dirty by-product of science. Slang may be, if you like, a dirty by-product of language. But at least he has been among the few who saw the living parentage of these things and knew that where there is smoke, there is fire--that is, wherever there is the foulest of things there, also, is the purest.”[57] Mr. Chesterton declares that Kipling’s type of courage is not that of war, nor valor of the battle-field, but “that interdependence and efficiency which belongs quite as much to engineers, or sailors, or mules, or railway engineers.” Recurrent in memory are such tales as “The Bridge-Builders,” “The Ship That Found Herself,” “.007,” “With the Night Mail” and “Wireless.” [Illustration: