Hymn Before Action is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

 in 1896. It takes the form of a prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

 by troops to God and to Mary

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

 on the eve of battle.

Publication history and reception

The poem was inspired by the 1860 hymn The Church's One Foundation

The Church's one foundation

The Church's One Foundation is a Christian hymn written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone.The hymn was written as a direct response to some teaching, considered unorthodox at the time, by John William Colenso, first Bishop of Natal, which created schism within the church in South Africa...

by Samuel John Stone

Samuel John Stone

Samuel John Stone was an ordained minister in the Church of England, chiefly remembered for his hymn The Church's One Foundation....

. It was written and published in The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

at a time when news of the botched Jameson Raid

Jameson Raid

The Jameson Raid was a botched raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by a British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96...

 of January 1896 reached Britain. Accordingly, it has been read as an expression of foreboding about increasing Great Power

Great power

A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...

 hostility to Britain – "The Nations in their harness / Go up against our path" – as a comment on filibustering

Filibuster (military)

A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...

 and as an argument for responsible imperialism

Imperialism

Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...

 under God and the Law:

"From panic, pride, and terror,

Revenge that knows no rein,

Light haste and lawless error,

Protect us yet again."

Published in Kipling's 1896 collection of poetry, The seven seas, the patriotic hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 was among the works that consolidated Kipling's reputation as "The Laureate of Empire". Roger Pocock, the founder of the Legion of Frontiersmen

Legion of Frontiersmen

The Legion of Frontiersmen is a paramilitary group formed in Britain in 1905 by Roger Pocock, a former Constable with the North-West Mounted Police and Boer War veteran, with its roots firmly set in another era, to bolster the defensive capacity of the British Empire...

, did not appear to notice Kipling's complex vision of the imperial task when he praised the poem in a letter to Kipling as "the biggest thing you've written so far."

In 1930, an English choir drew some attention by refusing to sing the hymn on account of its "pagan character". The choir's secretary argued that it might be appropriate for "troops of savages bent on slaughter", but presented "a primitive, unworthy conception of the Deity".

Text

The earth is full of anger,

The seas are dark with wrath,

The Nations in their harness

Go up against our path:

Ere yet we loose the legions—

Ere yet we draw the blade,

Jehovah

Jehovah

Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....

of the Thunders,

Lord God of Battles, aid!

High lust and froward bearing,

Proud heart, rebellious brow—

Deaf ear and soul uncaring,

We seek Thy mercy now!

The sinner that forswore Thee,

The fool that passed Thee by,

Our times are known before Thee—

Lord, grant us strength to die!
For those who kneel beside us

At altars not Thine own,

Who lack the lights that guide us,

Lord, let their faith atone.

If wrong we did to call them,

By honour bound they came;

Let not Thy Wrath befall them,

But deal to us the blame.

From panic, pride, and terror,

Revenge that knows no rein,

Light haste and lawless error,

Protect us yet again.

Cloak Thou our undeserving,

Make firm the shuddering breath,

In silence and unswerving

To taste Thy lesser death!
Ah, Mary pierced with sorrow,

Remember, reach and save

The soul that comes to-morrow

Before the God that gave!

Since each was born of woman,

For each at utter need—

True comrade and true foeman—

Madonna, intercede!

E'en now their vanguard gathers,

E'en now we face the fray—

As Thou didst help our fathers,

Help Thou our host to-day!

Fulfilled of signs and wonders,

In life, in death made clear—

Jehovah of the Thunders,

Lord God of Battles, hear!