"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!"

In this excerpt from Rudyard Kipling’s “The Ballad of East and West” the poet uses several poetic devices. In 3-5 sentences, identify and describe one poetic devise from the text, and explain how the poet uses the device to support his view of the British Empire. Include evidence from the poem to support your answer.

PLEASE HELP!

I think Rudyard Kipling is using comparison between people from the East and West and also using alliteration in "Border nor Breed nor Birth". I think that although he is a dyed in the wool British colonialist, at least he means that when "two strong men come face to face" that where they come from doesn't matter but what they represent and what they stand for and will fight for.

Answer Link

holesstanham holesstanham · Answer 2 · 2019-05-30T21:12:45+02:00

One of the devices that Rudyard Kipling uses is symbolism. In this poem, he uses the symbols of East and West to talk about the population that lives in these areas of the world. Therefore, when he states that East and West will never meet, what he means is that Western and non-Western people will never be able to understand each other.

This could be seen as a way to justify colonialism. By claiming that the people are too different, those who are not interested in learning or trying to understand other cultures might stop caring or trying, and might see other people as inferior to them.