My Boy Jack

Daniel Radcliffe as John “Jack” Kipling
(and this picture reminds me of someone from UP)

My Boy Jack is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. He wrote it after his son John Kipling (also known as Jack) went missing at the Battle of Loos during World War I.

“Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind—
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

David Haig wrote a play on the true account of the disappearance of John “Jack” Kipling during the war and staged it a couple of times. The role of Jack was played by Ben Silverstone and David Haig played the role of Rudyard Kipling.

And now, the story of Jack Kipling is on big screen. The casts are David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, December Boys) and Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City).

The screenplay is wonderful so you should watch this movie.

***

Afterthought:

Maybe because Harry Potter always triumphs at the end that all of Daniel Radcliffe’s roles in his other films died at the end of the movie.