Secondary 1 - Poetry

IF
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Background

Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865, in Bombay, India, where his father was an arts and
crafts teacher. At the age of six, he was taken to England and brought up by nannies. It
was a sad and lonely childhood.
In 1878, Kipling took tests to get into a special military school, but his poor eyesight
and poor marks made give up the idea of a military career. Kipling returned to India in
1882 where he worked as an assistant editor and overseas journalist. He also wrote
collections of stories about India. Kipling married, but it was not happy. Kipling wrote many
books and novels like The Jungle Book (1894) and Kim (1901). Kim is set in India and is
about the adventures of an orphaned son of a sergeant in the Irish army. Kipling was the
first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1907). Kipling kept writing until
the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. He died of
a stroke in early 1936.

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 of 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 walk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams you master;

if you can think-and not make thoughts you 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 you 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 or pitch and toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about you loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
Miss Gihan Serry
Secondary 1 - Poetry

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 - not lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all man 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!

Stanza one

Vocabulary:
keep your head: be calm and brave
blaming (you): you are responsible; your mistake
doubt: don’t believe; don’t trust
allowance: understand; patience
deal: work with; use

Paraphrase
This poem is a list of advice that a father gives to his son. In a bad situation, it is important
to stay calm even if the people around you panic and say you are responsible for this
mistake. It is important to trust yourself even if other people mistrust you and to accept
other people’s criticism patiently. Don’t lie to people who lie to you and forgive those who
hate you. The father advises his son to be modest and not to behave in a way that shows
he is better than others.

Literary Terms:

Contrast-
* The entire stanza is based on contrast.
‘keep you head’ x ‘losing theirs’
trust yourself x doubt you
lied about x don’t deal in lies
being hated x don’t give way to hating

Alliteration-
Line 6 ‘Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,’
* The consonant ‘d’ is repeated in ‘don’t’ and ‘deal’.

Repetition-
Line 6&7 ‘Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,’
* ‘Or being’ is repeated twice.

Rhyme scheme: a a a a b c b c
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Secondary 1 - Poetry

Stanza Two

Vocabulary:
master: leader; controller
triumph: success, victory
impostors: deceivers; cheaters
aim: goal; reason
disaster: failure
twisted: changed
trap: to catch
knaves: youth who break the rules; evil and bad people
stoop: to bend over from being so tired

Paraphrase
The father advises his son to be realistic and rational. It is good if one can imagine the
future, but don’t let those dreams have control. One should be able to think with an open
mind, but remember that thinking is not the goal. Success and failure are not real, so treat
them the same. You should be tolerant towards evil people who try to change your words
just to fool naive people. Don’t be desperate when you see all the things you have
achieved lost or destroyed. Try hard to get them back.

Literary Terms:

Metaphor-
Lines 8 ‘And stoop and build ‘em up with worm - out tools:’
* The skills of life have been compared to ‘worn-out tools’.

Alliteration-
Line 4 ‘And treat those two impostors just the same;’
* The consonant sound ‘t’ is repeated in ‘treat’, ‘those’ and ‘two’.
Line 6 ‘Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,’
* The consonant sound ‘f‘ is repeated in ‘for’ and ‘fools’.

Contrast-
Lines 3 ‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,’
* ‘Triumph’ and ‘Disaster’ are opposites.

Repetition-
Line 1,2,3,4,5 ‘If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thought your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken’
* The clause ‘If you can’ is repeated 4 times.

Rhyme Scheme: f f g h h g e e e e

Miss Gihan Serry

Secondary 1 - Poetry

Stanza Three

Vocabulary:
heap: a pile
turn of pitch and toss: ‘pitch and toss’ is the name of a game of chance; luck
sinew: muscles; tendons
serve your turn: do your work; your assignment
hold on: don’t give up or surrender

Paraphrase
The advice continues. It is goof if you can save your money, but don’t be afraid to take a
chance at a games of luck and then lose. To lose is only a new beginning. Start again, but
never tell anybody that you lost. Don’t complain or lose your temper even if you are tired,
but keep trying and use your strength to start again. The father advises his son to be brave
and to have faith in his heart and will.

Literary Terms:

Alliteration-
Line 8 ‘Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
* The consonant sound ‘w’ is repeated in ‘will’ and ‘which’.

Personification-
Line 8 ‘Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
* ‘will’ is personified and given the human ability to talk.

Assonance-
Line 7 ‘And so hold on when there is nothing in you’
* The same vowel sound is repeated in ‘so’ and ‘hold’.

Rhyme Scheme: h i h i a j a j

Stanza Four

Vocabulary:
crowds: common and simple people
common touch: to understand people - rich, poor, everyone
foes: enemies
distance run: fruitful labour
virtue: goodness, honesty
count with you: deal with you

Paraphrase
The advice continues. You should treat all people equally, whether poor or rich. You should
try to compensate for every minute of hatred with fruitful services and labour. In the last
two lines, the father tells his son that if he can comply with all this advice, he will inherit the
Earth and truly be a man.

Miss Gihan Serry

Secondary 1 - Poetry

Literary Terms:

Personification-
Line 5 ‘If you can fill the unforgiving minute’
* A ‘minute’ has been given the ability of having human emotion. It is ‘unforgiving’.

Alliteration-
Line 6 ‘With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,’
* The consonant sound ‘s’ is repeated in ‘sixty’ and ‘seconds’.
Line 8 ‘And which is more, you’ll be a Man, my soul!’
* The consonant sound ‘m’ is repeated in ‘Man’ and ‘my’.

Contrast-
Lines 1&2 ‘If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - not lose the common touch,’
* ‘crowds’ and ‘kings’ are opposites.
Lines 3 ‘If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,’
* ‘foes’ and ‘friends’ are opposites.

Hyperbole-
Line 7 ‘ Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,’
* An exaggeration for effect, not meant to be taken literally.

Repetition-
Lines 1,2,3,4,5 ‘If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
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’
* The word ‘If’ is repeated four times.

Rhyme Scheme: a k a k l j l j

Questions

1. In the poem, if Kipling writes many pieces of advice that a father gives his child. Which
three do you like best? Why?

2. Look at stanza 3 lines 5-8. These lines talk about physical strength. Have you ever had
an experience where you tried really hard to use you strength? What happened?

3. What is your opinion of stanza 3 lines 1-4. Is it good advice or not? Explain you answer.

4. According to the poem, how are people supposed to act if they are lied about or hated
(stanza 1 lines 6&7)?

5. Can you write a short story about this happening to an imaginary schoolmate? Try to
use Kipling’s advice in the story.

Miss Gihan Serry