If— : Analysis

If—

By Rudyard Kipling

(‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you  

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,  

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;  

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

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

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

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

 

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

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

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;  

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

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

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

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

 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

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

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,  

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

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

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,  

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

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

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,  

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

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

 

 Analysis:

            The poem If— was written by the English author Rudyard Kipling. The poem tells the perspective of a person who gives advice to his or her son. The scenarios that the poems mention go from the best places and moments to the worst and most difficult situation that an individual can face through their life.  The title of the poem If does not make much sense when first reading it; however, the poem is completely related to the title because the conditional connotation that it has. It represents all the possibilities that this boy has if he meets all of these requirements. In terms of the poetic form, the poem follows a structure that contains four stanzas. Each stanza has eight lines of which all of them have an end rhyme scheme. In terms of meaning, some lines seem to be a reference of a to-do list in order to become someone. In this case, a man as it says in stanza four, line thirty second. Moreover, the personification of Triumph and Disaster found in stanza two, line tenth, makes an allusion as the two possibilities that this boy will face throughout his life whether is failure or victory. On the other hand, there is no consonance nor alliteration along the poem. However, in all the end schemes there is assonance. For instance, in stanza one, line sixth and eighth, we can see the use of assonance with the words touch and much. Besides, the tone is a wise and somehow motivational to have a life of good decisions.  

About the author:

Rudyard Kipling was an English author who was born on December 30, 1865, India. He studied in England in the United Services College, and he was creator of various works such as ‘The Jungle Book,’ which then had many adaptations such as the Disney one with the animation movie based on it. According to Stewart (2020) ‘‘he received the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature.’’ Kipling died January 18, 1936, leaving behind successful works as the already mentioned ‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘Plain Tales from the Hills,’ and the poem ‘If—.’

 Works Cited

 ‘‘If—.’’ Poetry Foundation, n.d, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if---. Accessed 20 November 2020. 

Stewart, John. ‘‘Rudyard Kipling.’’ Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 January 2020,  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudyard-Kipling. Accessed 21 November 2020.