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If - by Rudyard Kipling - Poetry Foundation

The poem describes the characteristics of a man who can remain composed when others lose their heads, trust himself when doubted by others, wait patiently without tiring, avoid hatred even when hated, accept both triumph and disaster equally, accept the truth even when twisted by others, persist after facing losses, and force himself to continue serving after his abilities have declined, all while keeping his virtue among crowds and kings alike.

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Meiane Ngojo Mohamad
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792 views3 pages

If - by Rudyard Kipling - Poetry Foundation

The poem describes the characteristics of a man who can remain composed when others lose their heads, trust himself when doubted by others, wait patiently without tiring, avoid hatred even when hated, accept both triumph and disaster equally, accept the truth even when twisted by others, persist after facing losses, and force himself to continue serving after his abilities have declined, all while keeping his virtue among crowds and kings alike.

Uploaded by

Meiane Ngojo Mohamad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Poem: If—
  • Credits and Contact Information

If—

BY R UDYA RD K IP L I NG

(‘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!

n/a

Source: A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943)


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