You will be able to…

● Learn about the poet

● Understand and analyse the poem
● Identify literary devices and discuss their
effects
● Attempt questions and participate in discussions
● Create your own poem
 Rudyard Kipling 1865 – 1936

❖ Born in the British colony of India to

English parents
❖ Educated in England
❖ English novelist and a short story
writer and poet
❖ Supporter of British imperialism
❖ Wrote tales and poems about British
soldiers in india
❖ Children’s story writer
 Warm Up Activity
Think of an advice given by your parents, teachers
or anyone else. Did you follow their advice? Why or
Why not?
How important do you think advices are in one’s life?
“If” is an inspirational poem that
provides advice on how one should live
one’s life. The poem takes the reader
through various ways in which the
reader can rise above adversity that
will almost certainly be thrown one’s
way at some point.

Throughout the poem, the speaker

gives the reader multiple scenarios,
both positive and negative, along with
a glimpse into how one should conduct
oneself.
 Form, Structure and Tone
The form of a poem is how we describe the overarching
structure or pattern of the poem - how it looks on the
page. A poem's form refers to its structure: elements like
its line lengths and meters, stanza lengths, rhyme schemes
(if any) and systems of repetition.

Rudyard Kipling separates his

poem into four stanzas of equal I have a boring cat A
I do not like her
length, all of which contain eight
B
lines. Each stanza has a set
rhyme scheme of ababcdcd, with
❖
She is lazy and fat A
the exception of the first stanza, And does nothing but purr. B
which has the following rhyme
scheme: aaaabcbc.
❖ The speaker of the poem, presumably Kipling, keeps
a positive and upbeat tone throughout the work,
informing the reader what he or she needs to do
in order to be a successful person in life.

❖ Just glancing at the poem, the reader is

immediately hit with the word “If—.” This poem is
educational and didactic which means
instructional. It is written as a father’s advice to
his son.

❖ There is only one complete stop in the poem:the

exclamation mark at the end.This structure
suggests that to become a man is an on-going
process that is difficult and challenging.
 The poem begins with the narrator, being a father, addressing his
If you can keep your head when all about you son saying that he should keep calm in the situation of crisis when all
the others around him are panicking and blaming him.
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, He should trust himself when all the people around him discourage
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, him. Though he has confidence in himself and his decision, he should
also listen to the opinions people give him.
But make allowance for their doubting too;
He should learn to be patient and not feel irritated by waiting. If
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, someone does any bad to him or speaks lies about him, he should
not do bad in return. If he is hated by people, he should not be
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
hateful in return but rather stay positive. He then advises his son
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, neither to show off to people nor act arrogant but to stay
modest.
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
The narrator continues advising his son that it is good to
dream high, have ambitions and goals but he must not allow his
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; dreams to rule him. He should not lose connection with reality.
If he thinks about his future and plans for it, he should not
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; just sit and keep thinking. He needs to act upon the plans.
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster If he achieves success or face failure, he should treat them
equally. He neither should dwell in success if he achieves it and nor
And treat those two impostors just the same; should he let himself collapse if he faces failure. He must not allow
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken them to distract him because both of them are not long-lasting
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, He must have the courage and patience to listen to the things said
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, by him but are modified by some dishonest men. He needs to be
strong enough to see the most important things in his life to be
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: broken, he must gather the courage to fix them and start trying
again
If you can make one heap of all your winnings The narrator keeps advising his son that if he can take a chance in
life and risk everything even if he loses. He should start trying again
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, after losing and must not quit or give up. He must not complain
about his loss to other people. He needs to be self-sufficient and
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
must not look up to people when things go wrong.
And never breathe a word about your loss;
He should keep trying even though he is too exhausted to continue.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew He should stay strong and firm even if he has no strength left in
To serve your turn long after they are gone, him except for the inner voice in him that keeps him moving.

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
The advice continues as the father says to his son to be social
and keep in touch with his social group but not to lose his individual
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, goodness and integrity so that people may not be able to misguide
him. He says that when he becomes successful in life and his
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
status rises. He should not lose connection with his roots and the
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, people where he has come from because that is his reality.
If all men count with you, but none too much;
He advises him not to allow anyone to hurt him, be they friends or
If you can fill the unforgiving minute enemies. He advises him to let people depend on him but not to
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, take too much advantage of him. He also asks him to make good
use of his time and if he acts upon the given advice, the world,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
and everything herein, will belong to him. It will make him a
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son! Man.
Stanza 4 continued...

There are two pieces of advice in this final stanza…

1. Do not be corrupted by power:

❖ to be able to talk equally to kings and the common man

❖ not to be over-influenced by what others say, whether they are
friends or enemies

2. Use your time to the full.

❖ To live every second of his life to the full.

 Literary Devices
Metaphors Personification
Triumph‘ and ‘disaster‘ are here
‘triumph and disaster’ are compared attributed human characteristics and
to impostors. Success and failure called ‘impostors’ or deceivers who
both can deceive us, as we may can befool us.
become too happy or too sad and Minute‘ or time is here personified by
forget our duty. Moreover, triumph the term ‘unforgiving’. Time waits for
and disaster both are transitory — in none. The poet says, it does not
most cases they do not last long. ‘forgive’ those who waste their
valuable time. Forgiving is a human
‘worn out tools’ refer to the feeling quality attributed to ‘minute’ here.
of total exhaustion that can force Will is personified as it can encourage
someone to give up. us not to give up.
 Symbolism
‘Pitch-and-toss‘ is a game. But here it is a symbol for big risks in life.
The poet advises us to take bigger risks if it is for good reasons.

‘Crowds‘ symbolizes the common people

‘kings‘ symbolizes important persons

‘common touch‘ refers to humbleness.

‘Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,’ Kipling means to say that
if we possess those good qualities, we would find ourselves to be
highly successful in life and winning the hearts of people. It would
resemble winning the earth itself.
 Repetition Alliteration

Repetition is likewise present The alliteration in this poem

in this poem as Kipling used serves to add to the
the phrase ‘if you’ all already lyrical nature of
throughout the poem. ‘If’ is the poem by adding even
used to stress the possibility more rhythm:
of finding oneself in that
situation, while ‘you’ is used
‘all about’
to emphasize of owning up
‘don't deal’
and taking responsibility.
‘with worn-out’
‘sixty seconds’
 Themes
The first theme would be growing up and becoming a man. It discusses about
maturing into manhood, growing up and becoming wiser. That has something to do
with learning leadership skills. In the process of becoming a man, leadership skills
are usually required to succeed and earn respect.
Another theme in this poem is righteousness rather than being self-righteous. People who
are striving to be righteous should not be self-centred. Those two things, righteousness and
self-righteousness, are totally opposites. So, if people act self-righteous, they aren’t going
to achieve righteousness any time soon.

The next theme is having a good work ethic. People should not give up when things get
harder. They shouldn’t decide to be lazy and just decide not to do something because they
don’t feel to like it. People should always keep trying and persevering through hard times
and it will pay off in the long run.
The last theme of this poem is detachment. Failure and success should not be
focused on because they will not last nor will they be permanent. Do not get attached
to something that will leave as quickly as it came. All of these men possess nobility of
spirit and do not give up or give in.
 Main Message of the Poem

Risks must be taken in to life and hopes must not be lost if things
do not work out as the desired way. Eventually, the poet implies
once people have reached success which they aimed at, they
should remain to mingle with the common crowd but never lose
their individuality.

Let’s Reflect!

❖ Which advice did you like the best?

❖ How is the poem applicable in your life?

 Marked Assignment
10 marks
❏ Write a poem giving advice to any family member, relative or
friend. Your poem should be of two stanzas comprising four
lines each.
❏ Use literary devices such as metaphors, personification,
alliteration, repetition etc.
❏ You can start the poem with the conditional form IF…