Rudyard Kipling

Here you will find thePoemThe Questionof poet Rudyard Kipling

The Question

1916 Brethren, how shall it fare with me When the war is laid aside, If it be proven that I am he For whom a world has died? If it be proven that all my good, And the greater good I will make, Were purchased me by a multitude Who suffered for my sake? That I was delivered by mere mankind Vowed to one sacrifice, And not, as I hold them, battle-blind, But dying with open eyes? That they did not ask me to draw the sword When they stood to endure their lot -- That they only looked to me for a word, And I answered I knew them not? If it be found, when the battle clears, Their death has set me free, Then how shall I live with myself through the years Which they have bought for me? Brethren, how must it fare with me, Or how am I justified, If it be proven that I am he For whom mankind has died -- If it be proven that I am he Who, being questioned, denied?