Now Chil the Kite brings home the night
That Mang the Bat sets free.
The herds are shut in byre and hut –
For loosed till dawn are we.
This is the hour of pride and power,
Talon and tush and claw.
O hear the call! Good Hunting, All
That keep the Jungle Law!
— Rudyard Kipling (From Jungle Book)
While Jungle Book is appreciated for its innocent storytelling and a beautiful depiction of human’s oneness with nature, one of the book’s neglected aspect is the poetry embedded in it. Each story starts and ends with a poem. This versification is utterly perfect. I love the way the poem seems to embody the feel of the Jungle at night, when the wolf pack is about to hunt.
Who can deny the fact that Jungle Book is loved by young and old alike. The stories are full of action, romance and imagination. They are lush with detail, charged with excitement, but above all, they’re beautifully written. From the jungles of the Waingunga to the ice floes of the Arctic, from the heroic Mowgli to Akela the Lone Wolf, Kipling captures a thousand different moods. Kudos to the master who made us fall in love with nature all over again.
Note- Read more poems from Jungle Book here.
सौरभ राय | Sourav Roy 