‘The Gods of the Copybook Headings’ by Rudyard Kipling.

“The Gods of the Copybook Headings” is a poem by Rudyard Kipling, characterized by biographer Sir David Gilmour as one of several “ferocious post-war eruptions” of Kipling’s souring sentiment concerning the state of Anglo-European society. 

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Last weekend my wife and I were invited to our old friends Joe and Debbie Clarks lovely home in Plant City. They were members of the original Save America Foundation of which I was president. They drove a good distance to attend our monthly meetings in Clearwater, Florida. After an incredible dinner (Pig! Never saw one I didn’t wanna eat!) he bought the following out for me to read. Needless to say I was fascinated and was impressed with the work this patriot had done. I asked him if I could publish it and he gracefully agreed I could. I hope all of you who take the time to read the poem and the analysis that is enclosed within the blog and enjoy it as much as I did. Great job Joe!

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere” – Voltaire

Interesting and relevant to the world today, this analysis of Kipling’s poem, the work of myself and several other individuals who also see it as a prediction of inevitable hills and valleys in the future of mankind. Written a hundred years ago but could have been written today about the United States.

The Gods of the Copybook Headings by Rudyard Kipling

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,

I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.

Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn

That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:

But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,

So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,

Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place.

But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come

That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch

They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch

They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.

So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life

(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)

Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,

By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;

But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,

And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true

That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four —

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man —

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began —

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,

And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire —

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins

As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn

The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

Kipling, astute in his observation of human nature, in this poem he captures the past and future of the human race should man continue to arrogantly ignore the lessons learned by past generations and cast aside by the newest generation who are intent on destroying what past generations have built because future generations have always and will always see themselves as more intelligent and more educated than the forbearers who built the civilization they view with contempt.

The “Gods of the Copybook Headings” refer to the tradition of writing words of wisdom and morality on the top of pages of 19th century student notebooks.  These headings were used to practice penmanship, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, comprehension and instill time tested wisdom and values in the student.

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,

I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.

Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

An important thing to note as we begin is that the “Gods of the Market Place”,  are the latest progressive thoughts viewed by present day elites/intellectuals as more advanced, more intelligent than the old-fashioned  time proven principals that guided past generations to productive, fulfilling lives.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn

That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:

But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,

So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

This clearly describes the tendency among newer generations to quickly abandon the source of knowledge, and fall into the trap that leads us to the conclusion that we are more intelligent than those who proceeded us and the standards that they used to achieve an elevated culture have become obsolete and no longer useful.  Instead of pursuing deeper studies of the world and history, we abandon proven dogma for the more  “visionary”.  The applications of this to modern society are uncountable.  The number of educators who insist on abandoning classical education that focuses on “How to Think” for the newest and popular educational fad, “What to Think”,

The “March of Mankind” humanity as a constant necessity to “progress” to some new stage, throwing out values and knowledge gathered by passed generations and recycling the destructive concepts of Marxism and Fabian socialism concepts that have proven over and over again to be destructive but for some reason never loose their allure.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,

Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place.

This is evidence that this poem is about the cycle of civilizations, and how it’s all very predictable.  As a society reaches increasing heights, it becomes more and more likely to lose touch with the fundamental values upon which it was built.  The story of 20th century United States is very telling.  The conclusion becomes that the basic knowledge of how societies work, while during long periods being forgotten, always returns, but not until a civilization has died, and a new one emerges.  We are currently living immediately prior to the period when the empire falls, and Western civilization ends.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch

They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch

They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.

So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

Again, a reference to how culture goes from a dedication to the values that are the foundation of society, and how these traditions and values become “utterly out of touch”.  Instead people begin pursuing narcissistic dreams and fancies, completely ignoring the fundamentals that has enabled them to do so.  And along always comes politicians, the intellectuals, the merchants of ignorant dream-fulfillment and the lies that the masses want to hear.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”

The Cambrian Measures, the first period of the Paleozoic Era, another reference to the beginning of the principals that would bring success to human interaction.

This is an astonishing verse, which quite obviously refers to the fact that every time a brutal dictatorship like Nazi Germany, the Italian fascists or something similar has emerged, the first thing they do is take away the peoples means of protecting themselves (even though these two specific examples lie into the future when this poem was written),  Without guns, there will be no violence is what we are told.  They forget to tell us that the violence we should most fear is that which comes from the governing class.  Without the means to protect itself, a population will always be at risk of being sold into slavery by its masters.  The price we pay for avoiding being enslaved by the system, is having to face the possibility of every man being armed.  Freedom is not free, it requires that you are willing to take risks.  A promise of safety is a promise of future slavery.

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life

(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)

Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”

Geological Time

The idea of social communism, where everyone shares everything, inevitably ends with you have to share even you wife.  This was in fact how Plato saw the ideal society, a communist state where all property was communal, including wives.  Another interpretation is how the idea that all should be shared and everyone equal, ends with nothing but more of the jealousy and moral decay that it was intended to stop.  Man is by birth a property of owner, claiming exclusive ownership of his own body.  Any negation of the principle of ownership negates the existence of a free society.  And being free to create and homestead all that which is previously unowned, man will in the end find himself not among equals, rather among other men which own in accordance to their capabilities, and their willingness to work.

The second last sentence is of great interest-“Till our women had no more children and the most lost reason and faith”.  This is in fact the stage that the West had found itself in.  Thanks to the destruction of traditional values, women are having fewer and fewer children.  Our dying western culture is becoming barren, and our homes are being taken over by other cultures.  Meanwhile the “men lost reason and faith”, which hardly needs any explanation if we simply look at how much honest work is being done, and how many dedicate their life to crime, destruction or decadent behavior and all becomes acceptable behavior by society.  Through the loss of our cultural heritage, we have lost that which makes us civilized, and the spiral downwards will continue.

Society, as we know it, is dying.

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,

By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;

But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”

The reference to socialism hardly needs any further explanation.  What is interesting is the interpretation of “though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy”, which is a very astute observation of what happens when less and less or real value is produced.  Whether of not Kipling foresaw a future where money would become worthless paper is maybe a bit unclear, but the fact remains that many experiments with flat paper money had been made long before his time, and they all ended in monetary destruction.  A clear sign of decadence is when money is decoupled from value, and the control of it is given to the political class.

The final sentence brings a message that is the essence of what I am trying to say.  All those dependent on the effort and money of others, to be given to them by the State, are going to find themselves destitute and starving, unless they again learn to work.  When things come crashing down, there is no wealth to redistribute.  There will be no “social security” or “welfare”.  When everyone finds themselves impoverished, only a fool will expect to be handed free sustenance.  Those of us able and willing to work  will survive, others may not.

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,

And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true

That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four —

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

Inevitably, reality sets in.  The “Gods of the Market” will tumble, and their smooth talk and chicanery will be for naught.  They will head for the door, tail between their legs, desperately preparing to dodge any bullets, as the common man reaches for his gun.  And finally, as all that most held dear and everlasting has come crashing down, old wisdom returns, slowly and steadily.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man —

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began —

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,

And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire —

History inevitably repeats itself, and “Social Progress” is always a progression first towards ever-increasing wealth and prosperity, and as the people become complacent and decadent, a likewise inevitable collapse and reset of the system.

From the Proverb Peter 2:22, The Dog returns to his vomit and the Sow returns to it mire, after being cleansed by a higher standard of behavior we will eventually return to the vile behavior that we originally abandoned in search of a better life.

The burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire.  Man is destined to repeat his mistakes, and our efforts to root out of society ignorance and foolishness will never be completely successful.  Civilization will continue to come, and go, and when the book on mankind is finally closed, our experience will be nothing but a small blot of ink, among the innumerable pages that have been written.

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins

As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn

The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

The “Brave New World”, inevitably turns into the “Decadent Old World” once more.  Another reference to socialism is rather clear-cut.  What “no man must pay for his sins” means needs no explanation, taking it literally will move straight into the early 21st century.  And 

The Gods of the Copybook Headings…….with Terror and slaughter return.

©Fred Brownbill. All  rights reserved.