This reading works incredibly well in the trailer, and the tone and ascending hysteria achieved is excellent, but I have to say that I think Holmes missed the natural meter of Kipling’s poem. As I read it, Kipling was very much imitating the rhythm of the footfall of marching feet, and that’s absent here.
The poem in the trailer is this recording from 1915: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9RYG-iMdx0
This reading works incredibly well in the trailer, and the tone and ascending hysteria achieved is excellent, but I have to say that I think Holmes missed the natural meter of Kipling’s poem. As I read it, Kipling was very much imitating the rhythm of the footfall of marching feet, and that’s absent here.
I think the ultimate intention was to show the descent into madness through repetition and boredom. And for me Holmes achieves that very well.