Mandalay (poem)

*Moulmein from the Great Pagoda*, Samuel Bourne, 1870

"Mandalay" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling, written and published in 1890,^[a] and first collected in Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses in 1892. The poem is set in colonial Burma, then part of British India. The protagonist is a Cockney working-class soldier, back in grey, restrictive London, recalling the time he felt free and had a Burmese girlfriend, now unattainably far away.^[2]

The poem became well known,^[3] especially after it was set to music by Oley Speaks in 1907, and was admired by Kipling's contemporaries, though some of them objected to its muddled geography.^[4] It has been criticised as a "vehicle for imperial thought",^[5] but more recently has been defended by Kipling's biographer David Gilmour and others. Other critics have identified a variety of themes in the poem, including exotic erotica, Victorian prudishness, romanticism, class, power, and gender.^[2]^[6]

The song, with Speaks's music, was sung by Frank Sinatra with alterations to the text, such as "broad" for "girl", which were disliked by Kipling's family. Bertolt Brecht's Mandalay Song, set to music by Kurt Weill, alludes to the poem.

^ "Mandalay". The Kipling Society. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Jack 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hays, Jeffrey (May 2008). "Rudyard Kipling and Burma". Facts and Details. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
^ Cite error: The named reference Selth 2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Hamilton 1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Wesley 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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[KiplingSocietyMandalay-1] "Mandalay". The Kipling Society. Retrieved 19 September 2018.

[Jack_2017-3] Cite error: The named reference Jack 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] Hays, Jeffrey (May 2008). "Rudyard Kipling and Burma". Facts and Details. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

[Selth_2015-5] Cite error: The named reference Selth 2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Hamilton_1998-6] Cite error: The named reference Hamilton 1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Wesley_2017-7] Cite error: The named reference Wesley 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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