Quick review of The Gods of the Copybook Headings

     As I was in the middle of writing my second post of this series, it was suggested to me that I write a short explanation of the poem of the Gods of the copybook headings. In this short post I hope to give some background and clarification that will help the reader understand somewhat of what the author is trying to convey.

     The author of this poem is Rudyard Kipling, who lived from 1865 to 1936. During his lifetime, he wrote several stories and poems, including Just So Stories and The Jungle Book. The Gods of the Copybook Headings was published for the first time in 1919.

Now what is a copybook heading? Students used to use copybooks to practice their handwriting. At the top of the paper, there would be a perfect example of how to print something. The student would copy the handwriting on the rest of the page. Typically there would be a proverb (either from the Bible or other Literature).



Although the whole poem may not be interpreted 100% accurately, I believe we are able to get a pretty good idea as to what is going on in this poetic warning. Here is one way it could be looked at:

The "Gods of the Copy Book Headings" refers to the Victorian era teaching method of having children copy, in their copybooks, the headings at the top of each page. These headings were, generally, truisms in the form of quotes from the Bible or literature that children copied to practice their penmanship, spelling, etc. "if you don't work, you die", is an example. Secondarily, over time, children internalized these truisms that then became part of their moral conviction. Each of the "headings" presented in the poem are of this sort; time honored, traditional wisdom. But,"we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind". They are passe, man says, they argue for a moral and ethical standard, are exclusive, intolerant, inflexible. So, the "headings" have been set aside by modern, progressive man and deemed irrelevant in this brave, new, licentious world. Through the long cast of history, though, the truisms remain true. In spite of man's aversion to them and his conceit in, without reference to any morality save his own judgment, what he tells himself - that he is improving, learning and moving "forward" - they remain true. "There is nothing new under the sun", says Ecclesiastes about human nature and behavior. Is it surprising then, when our disappointment in the false promises of the marketplace, abundance for all by robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul, are realized, when men call good evil and evil good, when they behave in ways inimical to their own interests, when the 7 deadly sins triumph, that terror and destruction return? Man, absent the observance of the copy book headings - a moral imperative - says Kipling, will get his fingers burned, not once but, repeatedly.

And another:

The Gods of the Copybook Headings refers to common sense handed down from time and memorial through such things as the Bible, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, etc. They are consigned to the copybook for children to practice their penmanship because Man now knows "better". However, their wisdom cannot be denied and, continuously, throughout the ages this is proven over and over again. It is the Gods of the Marketplace (Which by the way does not refer to Capitalism necessarily. It is more pointedly directed at all those who think they know better than aged wisdom and therefore make false promises.) who lure mankind away from the truth of the copybook headings. These particularly include the Socialists, Progressives and Collectivists who in Kipling's time tore the world apart and led to the deaths of millions, including Kipling's only son, in the First World War. The Gods of the Market are the ones in stanzas 5, 6 and 7 who make unrealistic promises to Mankind and fail in the end. It is the Gods of the Copybook Headings who show up time and time again to deliver their wisdom and in the end after man has suffered terror and slaughter once more because of his arrogance he will return to the ageless wisdom of the Gods of the Copybook Headings and they will return to mankind.

I hope this short post helps give some clarity to the authors intent in writing the poem. There is obvious signs of true wisdom i.e. the Bible and the scoffers who run to the things of the world for answers when in fact they ran to their own destruction. In my next post I will show us how sticking to our "copybook heading", we as believers may fight back and regain the what we have lost and protect that which we have established. Please stay tune to what I believe the problem is, what our actions ought to be, and the solution to the problem. May we not go the ways of the gods of the marketplace, but rather stick to the paths of old, the "Gods of the copybook headings."