Kipling's "Barrack-Room Ballads" seem far more patronizing today than they ever could have in 1890. In the days before radio and tape, stereotyped dialect spellings seemed less stereotypical and more like evidence of the real thing." Sounded out Cockney-style -even 120s years later - they sound more believable than they look, though obviously they're not perfect.

What's more, K's insistent use of the vernacular, spoken by characters with often decidedly unconventional points of view, was like a one-man rap revolution for English poetry. Earlier uses of working-class dialect usually just went to show how quaint or humorous the characters were. In other words, not to be taken seriously.

K's critics said he was debasing poetry and threatening the language. But that's another thread and another forum.