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Given that “The White Man’s Burden” is intended to inspire action, the tone of Kipling’s poem is powerfully exhortatory. The most significant contributor to the poem’s exhortatory tone is the refrain that opens each of its seven stanzas: “Take up the White Man’s burden” (lines 1, 9, 17, 25, 33, 41, and 49). The repetition of this line is meant to have an energizing and galvanizing effect. For one thing, consider that the line takes the form of a command. The speaker isn’t simply asking the reader to consider the idea of the white man’s burden; they are calling on the reader to adopt this burden in an active way. Furthermore, by repeating this call, the speaker insists on the urgent need for participation, which in turn cultivates a sense of self-importance in the reader. Despite the various challenges that the make the white man’s burden specifically burdensome, as the speaker argues, the poem’s refrain calls on the reader to accept a role that, though requiring sacrifice, also guarantees honor. By repeating the call at the top of every stanza, the speaker exhorts the reader to become what the speaker views as the noblest version of themselves by serving the larger project of empire’s civilizing mission.

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