If (by Rudyard Kipling)

This seems to be the poem of Kipling

most loved by the masses and taught

in school.

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 imposters 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!

The poem with the stressed

syllables underlined:

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 imposters 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!

Comments:

A problem with popular and

promoted Victorian poetry was its

lecturing tone, often giving you 

advise on how to live life instead of a

story. Kipling, in particular, on second

reading strikes me as having the air

of a conservative talk radio host, 

speaking as an authority and knowing

he has the backing of authority, so sure

of what is right and wrong. Certainly,

there is a humour in his poetry, but it

is of condescending nature, without

even getting into the most obvious

examples of his current political-

incorrectness, but his opinions at his

time would have been considered quite

open-minded and liberal. Due to his

background, he was sometime of

a global citizen himself, his outspoken

patriotism seems to be an over-

compensation for his lack of connection

to England. 

The message of the poem is overall

a positive and optimistic one: that 

adversity can be overcome and you will

be respected for it. His definition of “a 

man” is a self-confident and respected

person, not a physically powerful or

sexually successful male, as the word is

often interpreted to mean today.

© C.A. MacLennan 2024

You can see videos of me reading poems

at: Poetry & Folklore - YouTube