Graham Thirkill Loc: Idylic North Yorkshire, England UK.

If—Published: 1910. Rudyard Kipling.

By far the most famous poem of Rudyard Kipling, If—, presents a set of situations and the ideal behaviour a person should adopt when he encounters them. It acclaims Victorian-era stoicism and displaying fortitude in the face of adversity. The person Kipling had in mind while writing this verse was his friend Sir Leander Starr Jameson, who incidentally was betrayed and imprisoned by the British Government. The poem doesn’t have a physical setting but is often seen as a father giving the most valuable lesson of life to his son. The lines of the poem are hugely popular; and the third and fourth lines of its second stanza are written on the wall of the players’ entrance to the Centre Court of the Wimbledon Championship. If— is one of the most well-known poems in the English language and it was voted the favourite poem of Britain in a 1995 BBC poll.

If—

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!

I think this is my favourite......

Hearty Cheers and Beers
Graham
\098/

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

If wishes were horses beggar's could ride.

pbcbob Loc: Delray Beach, FL

Great poem. Have not read it since Mr. Wallace's English class in 1968. My favorite poem by Kipling is Mandalay. Hope to take some pictures there next year.

Gazz96 Loc: Kapiti Coast, New Zealand

My Dad gave me a framed copy to hang on my bedroom wall when I was about 7.
I still have it 67 years later.
The message the words send have not changed.

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

I have not read this since high school. Brings back memories.

Jack

dancers Loc: melbourne.victoria, australia

AGAIN thanks...........this is perfection!

bigalw Loc: Essex - UK

Great poem and find Graham, we camp and motorhome in West Sussex quite a lot, we have visited Rudyard Kipling’s house quite a lot “Bateman’s”, a good visit if your ever that way

philmurfin Loc: Bakewell, Derbyshire UK

Hi Graham,

Are you aware of Rudyard Lake near Leek in Staffordshire. Apparently it was a favorite place of his parents and Rudyard was named after it.
Cheers and Happy New Year to All
Phil

bigalw Loc: Essex - UK

Shakey Loc: Traveling again to Norway and other places.

Thanks for posting my favorite poem, Graham. Happy New Year!

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

Having studied the Boer War at length for many years, I have no doubt that Jameson was both set up and knocked down by senior British politicians of the day in a most inglorious and devastating manner.
These words of Kipling I am sure were promoted by and relate entirely to Jameson and the treatment he received following the ‘Jameson Raid’ and would surely serve to buoy him up at such a disastrous time in his life.

khalidikram

Thanks, Graham. Good to read the poem once again. Incidentally, my Cambridge tutor used to recite a version that began: "if you can keep your head when all those around you are losing theirs/ you don't understand the situation, my son." Regrettably, I don't recall the rest of the parody. If you should find yourself in Lahore (Pakistan) sometime, you can still see "Kim's gun" in front of the museum. That's the gun on which Kim, in the Rudyard Kipling story, used to play. Thanks once again, Graham.

bigalw Loc: Essex - UK

Rudyard Kipling is my favourite author, and Kim and Jungle Book are favourite all time books AND films, Sabu and Dean Stockwell, brilliant, so when ever we are in that neck of the woods we visit “Bateman’s” albeit we’ve seen it all before it nice to re-gather the atmosphere of where he lived.

Mick_E_C

When my dad passed away, there in his wallet, folded and aged, was a copy of "If" ... just before he died, he shared with me that this was his favorite poem and it inspired him thoughout his life.

I now carry that special, folded piece of paper in my wallet.

cuckoobob

Also one of the most often parodied!
"If you can keep your head while those all around you are losing theirs,
You'll soon be the tallest one in the room!"