Talk:Mandalay (poem)

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I have recently visited Myanmar and recalled Kipling's poem, which I learned as a song. Aspects of the poem puzzle me greatly. If the Moulmein Pagoda is in the old capital of Moulmein ( now Maulamyaing) then looking to the sea would be looking to the west and the Gulf of Martaban. However the first line clearly states "looking eastward to the sea". From Moulmein the dawn would appear from eastern Myanmar and beyond in Thailand and not "come up like thunder outer China crost the bay". And kissing Buddha's feet is not part of Burmese Buddhist practice although removing one's shoes in every temple remains current. Am I being too literal? Or are there meanings that elude me? MJMcI 05:17, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

This poem is a part of family tradition for me. I have never heard the "Eastward to the Sea" version of the first line, although both of the links have it as such. I have a framed copy of the poem on the wall above me and the first line reads "By the old Moulmein pagoda lookin lazy at the sea". When I googled the poem I found the link below. I do not know whether one of the links is an error and the Wiki-version relied upon it. Also see the article at Mawlamyine.

http://raysweb.net/poems/mandalay/mandalay.html

Also, I would note that the poem discribes being on the "road to Mandalay" from Rangoon (Yangon). If one were headed north to Mandalay one could still see the dawn come up like thunder out of china cross the bay.--Counsel 05:48, 7 December 2006 (UTC)