Poetry Analysis

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If—

Original Poetry

Translation

If you can keep your head when all about you

If you can stay calm when everyone around you is losing their composure

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

And blaming you for it;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

If you can have faith in yourself when others doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

But also consider their doubts;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

If you can be patient and not weary of waiting,

Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or, when others lie about you, don’t respond with lies,

Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,

Or, when others hate you, don’t succumb to hatred,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

And still don’t appear too proud or speak too wisely:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can dream—and not let dreams control you;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can think—and not make thinking your only goal;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

If you can face success and failure

And treat those two impostors just the same;

And treat both as deceivers equally;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

If you can endure hearing your own words

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Twisted by dishonest people to trap the foolish,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

Or see the things you dedicated your life to, destroyed,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

And bend down to rebuild them with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

If you can gather all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And risk them on a single gamble,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And lose, then start over from the beginning

And never breathe a word about your loss;

And never mention your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

If you can compel your heart and strength

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

To work for you long after they are spent,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

And keep going when you feel empty

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

Except for the Will that tells you: ‘Keep going!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

If you can converse with crowds and maintain your integrity,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch;

Or associate with royalty—without losing your common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If neither enemies nor dear friends can harm you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If everyone values you, but not too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

If you can make the most of every unforgiving moment

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

With sixty seconds of effort in every minute,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

Then you will own the Earth and everything in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

And—which is even better—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Explanation

In 'If—', Rudyard Kipling presents a series of conditional statements that outline the qualities of a true man, encapsulating the virtues of resilience, integrity, and self-control. The poem opens with the imperative, 'If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;' which sets the tone for the challenges one must navigate. Each stanza builds upon this idea, emphasizing the importance of maintaining composure and self-trust amidst external chaos and doubt.

Kipling's use of the word 'impostors' in the line, 'And treat those two impostors just the same;' highlights the deceptive nature of both triumph and disaster, suggesting that neither should dictate one's sense of self-worth. The emotional arc of the poem transitions from a sense of struggle to empowerment, culminating in the assertion that mastering these virtues leads to true manhood.

Crafted with a didactic tone, Kipling employs repetition and parallel structure to reinforce his message, creating a rhythmic flow that mirrors the steadfastness he advocates. The poem's concluding lines, 'Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,' serve as a powerful affirmation of the rewards of adhering to these principles. This not only reflects Victorian ideals of stoicism but also resonates with universal themes of personal growth and moral fortitude.

Ultimately, 'If—' stands as a timeless guide to character development, urging readers to embrace resilience and virtue in the face of life's uncertainties. Kipling's legacy as a writer who captures the complexities of human experience is evident, as he navigates the interplay between personal integrity and societal expectations.

Word Dictionary63

Word	In English	Plain (English)	Pron.
keep	stay	to maintain a state or condition	keep
losing	failing to keep	to be deprived of something	loozing
blaming	accusing	assigning responsibility for a fault or wrong	blayming
trust	believe in	to have confidence in someone or something	trust
doubt	uncertainty	lack of confidence in someone or something	daut
allowance	consideration	a concession or adjustment made for someone or something	a-lou-ance
waiting	staying put	the act of remaining in a place until something happens	way-ting
tired	weary	in need of rest or tiredness	tired
lied	deceived	to have told a falsehood	lied
hating	feeling hate	to have strong negative feelings towards someone	hay-ting
look	appear	to have a certain appearance	luk
wise	knowledgeable	having knowledge or experience	wize
dream	aspiration	a strongly desired goal or purpose	dream
master	controller	one who has control over something	mas-ter
think	ponder	to consider or reflect on something	think
aim	goal	a desired result or purpose	aim
meet	encounter	to come into the presence of someone or something	meet
triumph	victory	a great victory or achievement	triumf
disaster	catastrophe	a sudden event causing great damage or distress	di-zas-ter
impostors	deceivers	those who pretend to be something they are not	im-posterz
bear	endure	to tolerate or withstand something	bear
truth	reality	the state of being in accordance with fact	trooth
twisted	distorted	to be bent or altered from the original form	twist-ed
knaves	dishonest people	a deceitful or untrustworthy person	nayvz
trap	snare	a device for capturing or deceiving someone	trap
fools	simpletons	people lacking good sense or judgment	foolz
watch	observe	to look at something attentively	watch
gave	provided	to have given something to someone	gave
life	existence	the condition of being alive	life
broken	damaged	having been shattered or destroyed	bro-ken
stoop	bend down	to lower oneself physically	stoop
build	construct	to create or assemble something	bild
heap	pile	a collection of things stacked together	heap
winnings	gains	the money or benefits acquired from a victory	win-nings
risk	gamble	to expose to danger or loss	risk
turn	chance	an opportunity or occasion to do something	turn
pitch-and-toss	gamble	a game of chance involving flipping a coin	pitch-and-toss
start	begin	to commence or initiate something	start
breathe	speak	to say something	bree-th
force	compel	to make someone do something against their will	fors
heart	emotions	the center of feelings and emotions	hart
nerve	courage	the ability to confront fear or adversity	nerve
sinew	strength	the physical power or strength of a person	sin-yoo
serve	work for	to perform duties for someone or something	ser-v
hold	persist	to continue to maintain a position or course of action	hold
nothing	no thing	not anything; the absence of anything	nuth-ing
talk	speak	to communicate verbally	talk
crowds	masses	a large group of people	krowdz
virtue	morality	behavior showing high moral standards	vir-choo
Kings	royalty	male monarchs or rulers	kings
common	ordinary	typical or usual; not special	kom-un
touch	connection	the act of making contact or connection with someone	tuch
foes	enemies	people who are hostile or opposed to someone	fohz
hurt	harm	to cause physical or emotional pain	hurt
count	matter	to be significant or important	kownt
fill	occupy	to make full or occupy space	fil
unforgiving	relentless	not willing to forgive or show mercy	un-for-giv-ing
minute	moment	a very short period of time	min-it
distance	space	the amount of space between two points	dis-tans
run	sprint	to move at a speed faster than a walk	run
Earth	world	the planet we live on	urth
everything	all things	all that exists	ev-ree-thing
son	male child	a male offspring	sun

Poet & Context

PoetRudyard Kipling

EraVictorian Era

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer, known for works like 'The Jungle Book' and 'If—'. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907.

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When1910

WhyThe poem serves as a guide to personal conduct and resilience, reflecting Victorian ideals of stoicism and moral fortitude.

FormDidactic poem

Themes & More

Themes

resilienceintegrityself-controlmanhood

Literary devices

repetition: reinforces the poem's moral lessonsimagery: creates vivid mental pictures of challengesconditional structure: emphasizes the importance of each virtue