VOCABULARY

Make allowance — ‘to make allowance’ for something means to

accept it even if it’s flawed or problematic

Doubt — the feeling of not trusting yourself or someone /

something else

Impostor — a fake person who pretends to be someone they’re

not

Knaves — dishonest or sneaky people

The Will — a reference to ‘willpower’, the motivational force in a

human’s psychology — the idea of ‘the Will’ is important in
philosophy and religion, many people debate over whether we
have ‘free will’ (complete freedom of choice in our actions in life)
or whether our lives are deterministic (already set out for us,
either by religious or social mechanisms)

Virtue — purity and goodness

STORY/SUMMARY
This is a lyric poem, so there’s not exactly a story to it — instead,
it’s an exploration of an idea. In this case the speaker is addressing
the reader, giving us some wise advice. This advice takes the form
of how to be, but also what to avoid in life — and to not copy the
bad behaviour of others.

In Stanza 1 Kipling says to stay strong and clear-headed even if

others are hostile towards us, to trust ourselves even when others
don’t (but also to accept that they might doubt us), to encourage
patience, to not lie even if people lie about us, to not hate others
even if we are hated ourselves, and finally to not boast or seem too
perfect and clever about all of our strengths — we shouldn’t ‘look
too good, nor talk too wise’.

Stanza 2 gives advice on our thoughts and actions: we should

think and dream, but not allow these to control us, and we should
not be too influenced by moments of extreme success (Triumph)
or failure (Disaster). We should also be able to withstand seeing
our truths manipulated by others, and our hard work coming
undone or being broken. When something we’ve put effort into
has broken, we should work to fix it again.

Stanza 3 explores the idea of perseverance — never giving up.

Kipting extends the concepts of success and failure, saying that we
should be able to lose everything we’ve earned and still have the
motivation to build it back up, as well as never complaining to
others about the loss. We should push our nerves and emotions as
far as they’ll go, and then some more — by making our willpower
stronger than anything else.

Finally, in Stanza 4 is about achieving greatness, but staying

humble — Kipling says we should keep our individuality and
goodness when talking to crowds, as well as staying in touch with
everyday people even when achieving high status. We should make
ourselves liked by everyone, although not the point of obsession. If
we can fill even the smallest amount of time with achieving our
long term projects and goals, then ‘the Earth’ is ours — and we will
be fully adult.

The poem is a father defining for his son the qualities of a good man.  he
is setting the parameters or boundaries for his son and giving him a goal
to achieve.  The poem deals with life's challenges and hw to deal with
them.

Stanza one deals with being confident about the decisions you make
and taking responsibility for those decisions.  If others, who cannot take
that responsibility for themselves, react negatively, you will be patient
with them and not reduce yourself to their level by telling lies or dealing
in hate.  However, don't ever think you are above anyone else.
Stanza two states that it is good to dream, but don't let your dreams
control your life. It is good to think, but those thoughts need to be put into
action. You will experience both triumph and disaster in your life.  Don't
take them too seriously because they are not the substance of life, they
are the extremes.  If you hear things you said misused or things you
have done destroyed, you need to be able to pick yourself up and rebuild
them with everything you have left in you.

Stanza three counsels not to be afraid to take risks and possible lose
everything.  If you do lose everything, don't talk about it, just start all over
again at the beginning.  When you have pushed yourself to your limit
and you are tired and exhausted, use your mind and your will to move
yourself forward.  Push through it.

Stanza four deals with a person's reaction to others.  You need to be

able to talk to a large group of people and not let them influence your
belief in what is right, wrong, moral, or immoral.  You need to be able to
walk beside men of power and influence and yet not lose touch with the
common man and his needs.  You need to know yourself and your
beliefs so well that neither your friends nor your enemies can hurt you
because you know who you are and what you stand for.  People can
depend on you, but don't let others become too dependent on you.  It is
important that you live every single minute of every single day of your life
to the fullest.  If you do these things, then the world is yours, and you will
be a good man.
Introduction
The poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling is a bundle of suggestions from
father to his son. In the poem, the poet tells his son how to cope with
different situations in the life ahead.

The poem is divided into four stanzas having eight lines each. The
rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAB. We will discuss each stanza in
detail below.

SaveIf 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:Published byEnglish
Summary

Stanza 1
The poet tells his son that he should keep calm and patient when others
do fail and put the blames on him. He should trust himself when all
others doubt him. However, he should also make a room for their doubts
and try understanding what made them doubt him.
In the fifth line, the poet says that one should wait patiently for success
and should never be tired by waiting because success comes to those
who work hard and remain patient.
Next, the poet tells his son that other people will often tell him lies.
However, he should never lie in his life and always remain truthful.
Others will hate him. But he should never hate them back and rather
spread love.

In the last line, the poet advises him to neither look too good, nor talk
too wise because if he acts upon all the advises the poet gave above, he
(his son) will look too good and wise among the common people.
Stanza 2
The poet says that he should dream big but
never make the dreams his master. Similarly, he should think good
(about goals, future, etc ) but never make thoughts his aim because in
order to succeed in life one has to work hard.
Mere dreaming and thinking will never lead one to the path of success.
Hence one should dream of goals and think of a better future and at the
same time should work hard to achieve them.

In the 3rd line, the poet says that one should meet with Triumph and
Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same. Note that the first
letters “triumph and disaster” have been capitalized.
These are the two extremes of life. The poet calls them impostors i.e.
fake. They either make one extremely happy or miserable. However,
they are not long-lasting and hence one should not take them seriously.
In the fifth line, the poet says that one should only speak the truth and
should also have the courage to face it when it is misused by others to
mislead others.

He should also have the courage to see the things build by him in broken
conditions and try rebuilding them with worn-out tools i.e. with what
energy or skills you have.

Stanza 3
The poet says that one should make one heap of all the achievements
one has made and then take big risks. In other words, one should never
be afraid of doing things that can either make one successful or ruin
everything (pitch-and-toss).
If one fails after taking big risks, he should start again from the
beginning without thinking or saying anything about the loss to others.
One should try again and again until one succeeds.

In the fifth line, the poet says that one should use his heart and nerve
and sinew i.e. courage when one becomes tired or fails. When nothing is
left in life, one should have strong will power which may encourage one
to “Hold on!”
Stanza 4
The poet says that while among the common people one must keep his
virtues (and never behave like them) while among the kings (i.e. big
personalities) one should never have pride and ego. In other words, the
poet is saying that when one is poor, he should keep his virtues and
when he becomes rich, he should never ego.

Next, the poet says that neither foes (enemies) nor loving friends can

hurt one because of what principles and ideals one hold. One should
never give up them.
People will often remain dependent on him but he should never allow
them to remain completely dependent on him. The poet may also be
saying that one should never give other too much importance or else he
will get emotionally attached to them which will hurt him in the future.

In the next line, the poet talks about the importance of time. According
to him, time is precious and will never come back. Hence one should
start utilizing each and every second of life.
In the final two lines, the poet tells his son if he (his son) acts upon all
the advice he gave above, he will be able to achieve whatever he likes
and he will be a Man i.e. a true human.
STORY/SUMMARY
This is a lyric poem, so there’s not exactly a story to it — instead,
it’s an exploration of an idea. In this case the speaker is addressing
the reader, giving us some wise advice. This advice takes the form
of how to be, but also what to avoid in life — and to not copy the
bad behaviour of others.

In Stanza 1 Kipling says to stay strong and clear-headed even if

others are hostile towards us, to trust ourselves even when others
don’t (but also to accept that they might doubt us), to encourage
patience, to not lie even if people lie about us, to not hate others
even if we are hated ourselves, and finally to not boast or seem too
perfect and clever about all of our strengths — we shouldn’t ‘look
too good, nor talk too wise’.

Stanza 2 gives advice on our thoughts and actions: we should

think and dream, but not allow these to control us, and we should
not be too influenced by moments of extreme success (Triumph)
or failure (Disaster). We should also be able to withstand seeing
our truths manipulated by others, and our hard work coming
undone or being broken. When something we’ve put effort into
has broken, we should work to fix it again.

Stanza 3 explores the idea of perseverance — never giving up.

Kipting extends the concepts of success and failure, saying that we
should be able to lose everything we’ve earned and still have the
motivation to build it back up, as well as never complaining to
others about the loss. We should push our nerves and emotions as
far as they’ll go, and then some more — by making our willpower
stronger than anything else.

Finally, in Stanza 4 is about achieving greatness, but staying

humble — Kipling says we should keep our individuality and
goodness when talking to crowds, as well as staying in touch with
everyday people even when achieving high status. We should make
ourselves liked by everyone, although not the point of obsession. If
we can fill even the smallest amount of time with achieving our
long term projects and goals, then ‘the Earth’ is ours — and we will
be fully adult.
‘IF —’ by Rudyard Kipling: Summary &
Analysis
By Jayanta Kumar Maity / Didactic Poem, Rudyard Kipling
‘If —‘ by Rudyard Kipling: About the poem
The poem ‘If’ by the India-born British Nobel laureate poet Rudyard Kipling is a poem of
ultimate inspiration that tells us how to deal with different situations in life. The poet
conveys his ideas about how to win this life, and after all, how to be a good human
being.
The poem, written in 1895 and first published in ‘Rewards and Fairies’, 1910 is 32
lines long with four stanzas of eight lines each. It is a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson.
The poem is written in the form of paternal advice to the poet’s son, John. You may
read more about the poem at Wikipedia.
For the theme, as already told, the poem basically tells us the conditions that we should
meet to succeed in life and make this life happy and a beautiful one. The whole poem is
written in a single complex sentence. So all the subordinate clauses begin with ‘if’ and
the main clause concluding the entire theme comes at the end, and the poem ends with
a full stop.
This structure of the poem was important to achieve the conditional goal. The poet
speaks of the achievement at the end, after discussing all the requirements to reach
there. This structure is actually symbolic in suggesting that you can get the rewards
only after you have fulfilled the preconditions. Moreover, this makes the readers eager
to know what would happen when we meet all these conditions, thus retaining the
curiosity and interest till the end.
And, as the main theme of the poem is a combination of so many if’s, the title ‘If’ is an
apt one for the poem.
Now it’s time to go for an analysis of the poem.

IF - RUDYARD KIPLING

Rudyard Kipling’s “If” is perhaps his most famous poem.

Kipling composed the poem in 1909 while living in Great
Britain. It was first published in 1910 in Kipling’s
collection 
“If” attracted immediate nationwide attention in Britain,
and it was quickly adopted as a popular anthem. 
“If” is a didactic poem, a work meant to give instruction. In
this case, “If” serves as an instruction in several specific
traits of a good leader. Kipling offers this instruction not
through listing specific characteristics, but by providing
concrete illustrations of the complex actions a man should
or should not take which would reflect these
characteristics.
If Summary
Stanza 1
The first stanza of “If” illustrates the practice of self-
confidence and expresses that, in being confident; the
reader must have the courage to face unpopularity and
disagreement. This stanza also, however, advises against a
self-confidence that does not allow for the consideration of
opposing ideas. In exhorting the reader to both ignore
doubt and make allowance for doubt (lines 3 and 4),
Kipling creates a paradox (the combination of mutually
exclusive ideas that, while seemingly contradictory, serve
to make a point in their contradiction) that is
characteristic of the tone of the entire poem.
Line 5 advises patience, line 6 advises honesty, and line 7
advises fortitude of character. These three lines, along with
the first four lines of the poem, share a common thread:
they provide instruction in the maintenance of righteous
behavior in the face of unrighteousness. However, in line
8, Kipling is quick to qualify his advice, telling the reader
“yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise.” That is, in
behaving righteously, a person must avoid smugness.
CENTRAL IDEA:
The central idea of this poem is that success comes from
self-control and a true sense of the values of things. In
extremes lies danger. A man must not lose heart because
of doubts or opposition, yet he must do his best to see the
grounds for both. He must not be deceived into thinking
either triumph or disaster final; he must use each wisely--
and push on. In all things he must hold to the golden
mean. If he does, he will own the world, and even better,
for his personal reward he will attain the full stature of
manhood.

SYNOPSIS
“If” is a didactic poem, a work meant to give instruction.
“If” gives an instruction in cultivating several specific traits
of a good leader. Kipling offers this instruction not through
listing specific characteristics, but by providing concrete
illustrations of the complex actions a man should or
should not take which would reflect these characteristics.
The poem is about moral lessons and conduct. It contains
advice from a father to a son on how to grow up to be a
better person and a true man. He reminds his son that he
will be a Man if he can hold on to his values and not be
swayed by others. If he follows his advice, he will have a
rewarding and enriching life. He will have everything he
can wish for.
Poetry Analysis:
The power of self-confidence within the first four lines of
the poem takes on an air equivalent to that of Socrates it
his detachment from criticism:
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,
Here is the real measure of individuality and self-worth
the power to reject bitterness in the face of other people's
wrath. The overwhelming reference to "you" or "your"
which is used seven times within these four lines really has
the affect of breaking out of the poem and speaking to the
reader directly. There is a Jesus-like forgiveness within the
last line of forgiving your foes, it is a higher understanding
of how the world works, it grasps at the truth of human
nature and makes "allowance" at the folly of others, not for
their sake, but for your own.

Patience as a virtue and the correct way to speak and feel is

of interest in the next four lines:
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:
Here patience is both taken as patience with others and
with the world at large. True understanding is patience,
and with dealing with others in the correct manner. The
negativity of "hate" and "lying" are rejected absolutely by
those who would seek to view the ways of the world from
an open philosophic way of thinking. At the close of the
poem the narrator warns though against the error of
arrogance with such self-confidence and wisdom.

It is hard to ignore the conservative message that is

evident within the whole of the next stanza:
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:
Once again the words are noble enough, at the start the
narrator praises dreams and longings but warns against
becoming blinded with those wants. Interestingly, the
knowledge of the god-like narrator warns against the
personified (note the capitalisation) "Triumph and
Disaster" realising both of them as "impostors," or of little
importance in the grand scheme of things.

The last two lines could be read somewhat as a

conservative message (knowing the authors politics) with
the idea of continuation and hard work in adversity, of
course it is always dangerous to attach the author with the
poem in such a way, though it remains positive and
uplifting.This idea is also continued within the next lines:
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 breath a word about your loss;
The attitude of never giving up and working hard certainly
could be read as an element of the conservative
methodology, however the determination and message of
striving is there for all to adhere to regardless of political
vision. It is also much more than the method of a
continuation in the face of adversity, it is about the way
this is done and never breathing "a word about your loss"
shows the utmost element of self-dignity.

Of course the message of the poem throughout is also

holding the tension that will be finally released within the
last line. The poem is
essentially and extended sentence with the object only
released at the end. Before this however there is more
tension and dignity to be
wound-up within the message of the poem in the next
stanza:

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;
Of importance in this section is the message of not
becoming corrupted by the machinations of status, the
individual not placing importance above anyone else, but
showing ultimate humility. Obviously "Kings" is
contrasted with "common" in order to cover all the strata
of society in the same way as "foes" and "friends" is within
the next line. The argument of treating a foe with the same
humility as a friend and not allowing them to hurt you falls
back to the self-confidence factor at the start of the poem.

In the last section of the poem the tension built-up

throughout is finally released:
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 last line is also the realisation of the passing down of
knowledge and wisdom from father to son, and it is the
first time that we as readers realise that the poem is not
directly addressed to them, but to a younger figure.
This gives the poem an extra element of humility, and as
readers we unconsciously care for this younger child and
hope he prospers under such guidance, as we do ourselves.
Overall in the poem there is much truth and wisdom
within these motivational words that seems tap into a core
within the reader, expanding virtue and knowledge. True
words are often softly spoken and the gentleness and
confidence which meet the reader in the lines of the poem
come across both reverent and admirable. The obvious
humanity which Kipling breached within the whole poem
stirs within the reader thoughts of a higher nature than the
pettiness that surrounds daily life, it is just a shame that
most people don't act upon the meaning carried within the
Kipling's verse, for then we could truly ask "what if?"

FIGURES OF SPEECH-
The poem is straightforward and written in simple
language. The key word “If” is repeated to emphasize that
we need to work hard to reap the rewards of life.
a)Personification
-Dreams: masters who can control our lives. In this case,
dreams assume a human role/quality, that of being a
master.
-Triumph and disaster are imposters who can lead us
astray. Success is personified as “Triumph” and can make
us complacent. Failure is personified as “Disaster”. It can
influence us to believe that failure is permanent.
-Will is personified as a person who encourages us not to
give up.
b) Metaphor
-Unforgiving minutes refer to time that waits for no man,
it is like a race where every second is important.
-Worn out tools refer to the feeling of total exhaustion that
can force someone to give up.
-Make one heap of all your winnings is compared to a pile
of money won at the gambling table.
-Walk with Kings means to socialize with important
people.
-Talk with crowds refers to mixing with all kinds of people.
c) Symbol
A symbol represents an idea
-Knaves represent scoundrels, liars or conmen.
-Crowds symbolize the common folk/people.
-Kings represent the important people in society.
-Common touch represents humility.

Paraphrase by verse
If you can
1) remain calm when everyone near you is not calm, and
they are holding you responsible for the problem; have
confidence that you are acting correctly when everyone
thinks you are wrong, and at the same time, understand
their doubts;
2) be patient, and can tolerate lies being told about you
(you don’t lie) and being hated; not hate anybody yourself;
not try to look or sound too good;
3) dream but not just dream; instead, be realistic and be
goal oriented; function in both
good situations and bad and realize that you will have both
throughout your life;
4) tolerate the fact that people have twisted your words or
wrecked your projects; rebuild
your projects and rebuild your life again when necessary;
5) risk everything you have, lose it and then start all over
again (without complaint); 
6) not give up when you feel weakened physically and
mentally; hang in there;
7) resist being corrupted by ordinary people or by people
in high positions; not be hurt by either enemies or friends,
value everyone, but not any one person too much;
8) make the most of every minute of life; then you will be
an honorable and trustworthy human being.

                                               Glossary
Verse 3  Triumph and Disaster — victory, and an event
that causes great damage
Verse 4  knaves — an old-fashioned word for dishonest
men
Verse 4  build ‘em up — build them up; rebuild the broken
parts of your life
Verse 6  sinew — a part of your body that connects a
muscle to a bone; in a literary meaning, something that gives
strength or support

SPEAKER/VOICE
The poem has a personal, emotional and motivational
tone which is intended to inspire its readers — for this reason, it is
likely that the speaker is the poet himself (Kipling). His
personality comes across as passionate and positive, but also very
balanced — he understands the difficulties we must face in life and
that there will be ups and downs, so his message is to not get
carried away with the good, but also remain positive during the
bad — in other words, we should always be moderate rather than
extreme in our reactions.

LANGUAGE
Personification — Triumph and Disaster are capitalised, and
called ‘two impostors’, this means Kipling is personifying them
and turning them into characters — negative characters, that are
exposed as not real (as the word ‘impostor’ means ‘a fake
person’). Metaphorically, Kipling is saying that Truimph —
when you feel like you’ve won a great victory — and Disaster —
when everything is ruined or terrible — are not what they seem.
These represent antithetical extremes — they are almost the
opposite, but in Kipling’s mind they are equally damaging if you
fully embrace them. He says instead that we should remain
moderate and gain control over our extreme emotions, because
that is the best way for a mature person to be fully in control of
themselves.

Anaphora — The word ‘If’ is repeated over and over, at the

beginning of many lines, showing that the poet is building up one
continuous idea (of how to be a mature, fully balanced and
successful person), but also at the same time exploring different
aspects of this topic. It has a sense of building in greatness as the
poem progresses, but the word ‘If’ also creates a conditional
clause — the phrase that follows ‘if’ it always depends up on
specific conditions to work, so it signifies a possible future reality,
but also creates doubt and uncertainty.

Antithesis — almost every idea presented in the poem has an

opposite (an antithesis). We should ‘wait and not be tired by
waiting’, ‘being lied about, [not] deal in lies’ and meet with
‘Triumph and Disaster’. These extreme opposites that are often
balanced equally, create a sense of both excessive positivity and
excessive negativity being a bad thing — Kipling always tries to
keep his opinion in the middle ground between the extremes,
instead of embracing one or the other.
FORM/STRUCTURE
The ending — the final phase ‘you’ll be a Man, my son!’ could be
interpreted as an anticlimax — something less grand than we
were expecting. Yet, if we delve deeper we can see that Kipling is
showing that it takes great strength to be a Man (or a woman)
rather than a child — he has given us all the qualities that he feels
are needed for a person to be fully mature and strong in their
character. We can say that the poem has a didactic message — it
is intended to teach readers about success, happiness and
fulfilment in life.

Octaves — the poem is split regularly into three octaves (8 line

stanzas), with an ABABCDCD (alternate rhyme) rhyme
scheme — this regular structure with a slightly varying rhythm
represents how the individual person should stay strong even if
the world around them is fluctuating, or they are faced with
different positive and negative situations.

Enjambment — ‘risk it all in one pitch and toss, / And lose’ —

Kipling uses a gambling metaphor to suggest the idea that we
shouldn’t be so precious about our money or success that we
wouldn’t risk any of it — he goes so far to say that we should
probably risk all of it and lose it, because then we would gain a lot
of self respect when we build it back again.
Single sentence — the whole poem is one complex sentence,
showing that all of these ideas are interconnected and they lead to
the same conclusion — a positive, successful life.

ATTITUDES
Success is not constant — Kipling talks of ‘Triumph’ as an
impostor — something that is fake and temporary, and he also
says that we should ‘risk it all… And lose’, meaning that it’s good to
risk and lose your winnings in life — either financially or
otherwise. This may seem scary or stupid at first. However, reason
for saying this is that if we lose everything and then still manage to
build it back up, we will have gained a lot of self knowledge and
self respect, and in the long term we will feel much more stable
because even if the worst happens, we can work hard to get
ourselves back into a favourable position. The confidence in
ourselves and our abilities is far more valuable than any success or
money that we may have achieved.

Happiness comes from self-control — all of Kipling’s

statements are about moderation and being in control of one’s
own character at the very best and very worst of times. We should
assert our individuality in a crowd, but also empathise with the
masses instead of only thinking about ourselves. We should
withstand being hated or people lying about us, but also never
boast or be overconfident and arrogant. Understanding and
avoiding the extremes and creating a controlled, balanced and
adaptable character seems to be the most important message that
Kipling is trying to impart.

Individuality is important for happiness — several times

throughout the poem, Kipling reminds us not to pay attention to
what others think or say, especially in their judgements and
negative criticisms or misinterpretations of our actions. This
seems obvious, but it’s very easy to feel self-conscious and worry
about offending others, to the point of it damaging our own
characters. Kipling feels that we should embrace our individuality
and not bend too much to others’ beliefs about how we should act
or feel — in his opinion, this is the way to true, lasting happiness.

We should all aim for virtue, not perfection — Kipling tries

to take a realistic approach in his poem, he knows that life is full of
ups and downs, and that success in some ways can cause problems
in others, or that failure can have the potential for an even greater
beginning. If we remain true to ourselves and good-natured in
character (virtuous), then he is confident that we can make the
best out of any situation and we will succeed in life. It’s not about
being perfect — so for Kipling we could say that a perfectionist’s
approach to live does not achieve success and happiness, instead
it’s about developing inner strength and the ability to adapt to
different situations.
CONTEXT
The poem was published in 1910

Some interpret the poem as being written for Kipling’s own son —
as the poem ends in the phrase ‘my son’, which could be taken
literally. Kipling was famously a short story writer and wrote a lot
for children, so that supports this interpretation.

Stoicism — Kipling’s poem reveals a stoic attitude to life —

stoicism is a philosophy that promotes balance, harmony and
moderation. Stoics also use logic and rationality to navigate
difficult situations (they keep a level head and don’t allow their
actions to be ruled by their emotions); they believe that we should
find positives in pain and suffering, in order to learn and adapt
from these experiences.

The poem also expresses a ‘stiff upper lip mentality’ — the

idea that you don’t show your emotions or allow them to defeat
you, as when a person cries their lips often tremble. This is a
typical British attitude to life — where traditionally the British are
known for not showing extremes of emotion in public. This was a
particularly popular attitude during the Victorian Era, in which
Kipling became a famous poet (although the poem is written 9
years after Victoria’s death, it does feel more Victorian than
Modern in its tone)