The road to Mandalay
Pic: Mandalay, by Samuel Bourne (1832-1912)
“Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments an’ a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin’, an’ it’s there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!”
————————————— Rudyard Kiplin (read the whole poem here)
Kipling is nooit in Madalay geweest, toch sprak die stad tot zijn verbeelding. Hij schreef het gedicht in de negentiende eeuw en delen van de tekst werden door Oley Speaks gebruikt in het liedje “On the road to Mandalay”. Dit liedje kreeg vooaral bekendheid toen Frank Sinatra het gebruikte op zijn album “Come Fly With Me”.
Met groeiend ongeduld kijk ik uit naar mijn bezoek aan Mandalay. Ik laat jullie weten of de stad terecht tot Kipling’s verbeelding sprak.
Kipling never went to Mandalay, yet the city tickled his imagination. He wrote the poem in the nineteenth century and parts of the poem was used in the song “On the road to Mandalay” by Oley Speaks. Frank Sinatra used this song on his “Come Fly With Me” album.
I look forward to my visit to Mandalay. I will let you know if the city deserved Kiplings appreciation.
