Language and style

Here, we discuss the language and the style of the poem “The Real White Man's Burden” by Ernest Howard Crosby, focusing on more specific elements which can further your understanding of the text:

• Playing with the language
• Tense of the verbs
• Type of words used
• The style of the poem
• The mode of expression
• The sentence structure
• Repetition
• Irony

Playing with the language

Given that the poem is a parody after Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Man's Burden”, it is not surprising that the poet plays with language. Everything he says is ironical, though the mode of expression is solemn and serious: 

“Take up the White Man's burden;
Send forth your sturdy sons,
And load them down with whisky
And Testaments and guns …” (ll. 1-4)

In this example, citizens of the empire are loaded not only with guns, but also with Testaments (the Bible) and whisky. This creates a funny image of drunk men preaching the Christian faith and holding guns.

Can you find other similar exampl...