in a New Year sermon, a senior rabbi and author, talking about the migrants crisis, quoted the line
"And what should they know of England who only England know? "

I was unsure what he intended to convey, thought it was plucked out of its context, so I sent him the first two verses of "The English Flag".

He replied
"thank you for reminding me of the origin of the Kipling quote. It puts a different light on how I and most people have usually understood it, viz. that one should be more widely knowledgeable than just about parochial England."

The phrase is one that has passed into general use, as noted in the comments on the poem in The Readers Guide, tho I think many like my rabbi do not appreciate what Kipling meant. Charles Allen's summary I found helpful :
it calls on the street-bred people of England to remember that their great empire had been won at a price. The four winds of the cardinal points bear witness to the expansion of British hegemony overseas,...

Does anyone have any comment on how the phrase should now be utilised?

Bryan Diamond

-- 76

This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com