Question

Take up the White Man's burden–
Have done with childish days–
The lightly proffered [offered] laurel,
The easy, ungrudged [unresentful] praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!

—"The White Man's Burden,"
Rudyard Kipling

What can be inferred about Kipling’s point of view, based on this stanza?

He opposed imperialism because it is a burden on industrialized nations.
He opposed imperialism because it makes industrialized nations too powerful.
He supported imperialism because it is the duty of industrialized nations.
He supported imperialism because it helps industrialized nations gain wealth.

Answer 1

He supported imperialism because it is the duty of industrialized nations.

The poem's opening commands ("Take up the White Man's burden," "Have done with childish days") and lines about thankless years and testing "your manhood" frame imperialism as a moral obligation or duty rather than a pursuit of praise or wealth.