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If Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" provides a set of philosophical rules and maxims for living with integrity, perseverance, and virtue despite challenges. The poem advises maintaining composure when others lose theirs, trusting oneself when doubted by others, and treating both triumph and disaster equally without boasting or complaining. It counsels accepting criticism without retaliation, rebuilding what is broken, and continuing with resolve even when feeling depleted. Living this way, according to the poem, allows one to interact honorably with people from all walks of life while maintaining one's own values and individuality.

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Ruth F. Corro
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18K views2 pages

If Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" provides a set of philosophical rules and maxims for living with integrity, perseverance, and virtue despite challenges. The poem advises maintaining composure when others lose theirs, trusting oneself when doubted by others, and treating both triumph and disaster equally without boasting or complaining. It counsels accepting criticism without retaliation, rebuilding what is broken, and continuing with resolve even when feeling depleted. Living this way, according to the poem, allows one to interact honorably with people from all walks of life while maintaining one's own values and individuality.

Uploaded by

Ruth F. Corro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IF by Rudyard Kipling

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 all 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!
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Kipling is said to have written the poem 'If' with Dr Leander Starr Jameson in mind, who led
about five-hundred of his countrymen in a failed raid against the Boers, in southern Africa.
The 'Jameson Raid' was later considered a major factor in starting the Boer War (1899-1902).

About the Poem


Rudyard Kipling's (1865-1936) inspirational poem 'If' first appeared in his collection 'Rewards
and Fairies' in 1909. The poem 'If' is inspirational, motivational, and a set of rules for 'grownup' living. Kipling's 'If' contains mottos and maxims for life, and the poem is also a blueprint
for personal integrity, behaviour and self-development. 'If' is perhaps even more relevant
today than when Kipling wrote it, as an ethos and a personal philosophy. Lines from Kipling's
'If' appear over the player's entrance to Wimbledon's Centre Court - a poignant reflection of
the poem's timeless and inspiring quality.
The beauty and elegance of 'If' contrasts starkly with Rudyard Kipling's largely tragic and
unhappy life. He was starved of love and attention and sent away by his parents; beaten and
abused by his foster mother; and a failure at a public school which sought to develop
qualities that were completely alien to Kipling. In later life the deaths of two of his children
also affected Kipling deeply.
Rudyard Kipling achieved fame quickly, based initially on his first stories and poems written
in India (he returned there after College), and his great popularity with the British public
continued despite subsequent critical reaction to some of his more conservative work, and
critical opinion in later years that his poetry was superficial and lacking in depth of meaning.
Significantly, Kipling turned down many honours offered to him including a knighthood, Poet
Laureate and the Order of Merit, but in 1907 he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Kipling's wide popular appeal survives through other works, notably The Jungle Book (1894)
the novel, Kim (1901), and Just So Stories (1902).

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