The Recall
The Recall - context Summary
Homesick Pull to the Homeland
The poem personifies the homeland as an active, moral force that draws expatriates back through memory, ritual, and sensory cues. It promises a gradual "recall" in which returners remain changed yet remain sons, reordered by the land’s seasons and traditions. The voice blends consolation and authority, suggesting the homeland imparts both knowledge and sorrow. The poem reflects Kipling’s recurring interest in belonging and the emotional pull of one’s native country.
Read Complete AnalysesI am the land of their fathers, In me the virtue stays. I will bring back my children, After certain days. Under their feet in the grasses My clinging magic runs. They shall return as strangers. They shall remain as sons. Over their heads in the branches Of their new-bought, ancient trees, I weave an incantation And draw them to my knees. Scent of smoke in the evening, Smell of rain in the night-- The hours, the days and the seasons, Order their souls aright, Till I make plain the meaning Of all my thousand years-- Till I fill their hearts with knowledge, While I fill their eyes with tears.
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