Mandalay means a city on the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar. It is the former capital and second-largest city of Burma, a Buddhist religious center. In 1890, Rudyard Kipling published “Mandalay,” also called “The Road to Mandalay,” a poem set in colonial Burma, which was a part of British India at the time. The poem is part of the Barrack-Room Ballards, and Other Verses. The story follows a working-class Cockney soldier as he recalls the freedom he felt when with his Burmese girlfriend who is now far, far, away. Praised and criticized by his contemporaries, the poem covers various themes including Victorian prudishness, exotic erotica, class, power, romanticism, and gender. Kipling wrote the poem when he was only 24 and was inspired by his own journey through Calcutta and Japan.
