An unpublished poem by Rudyard Kipling, written following a "night out" with the late John Vitrue, proprietor of the Oak Bay Hotel, Victoria, in November 1907, has come to light.

Kipling reputedly wrote the poem before ending his vacation in Victoria and presented it to Mr. Virtue, who framed the original and allowed some of his friends to have copies:


A gilded mirror, and a polished bar,
Myriads of glasses strewn ajar,
A kind of faced man all dressed in white,
That's my recollection of last night.

The streets were narrow and far too long,
Sidewalks slippery, policemen strong,
The slamming door, the sea-going back,
That's my recollection of getting back.

A rickety staircase and hard to climb,
But I rested often, I'd lots of time,
An awkward keyhole and a misplaced chair,
Informed my wife that I was there.

A heated interior and a revolving bed,
A sea-sick man with an awful head,
Cocktails, Scotch and booze galore,
Were all introduced to the cuspidor.

And in the morning came that jug of ice;
Which is necessary to men of vice,
And when it stilled my aching brain,
Did I swear off?---- I got drunk again.

From: Vancouver Daily Province, Dec. 22, 1945