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IF by Rudyard Kipling
About the Poet: Rudyard Kipling – an English littérateur, well known for his works such as The Jungle Book,
Kim, and the iconic poem If, was an eminent poet, a novelist and a prolific writer of short stories. He was born
on Indian soil on the 30th of December, 1865 in the city of Bombay, then under the British rule. Leaving his
lavish colonial life in India at the age of five to move to England for the sake of his education was the earliest
misfortune which Kipling encountered. His foster parents treated him very roughly while he was trying to adjust
in his new school. However, things got better when he moved to a boarding school in Devon where his literary
career began budding as he assumed the responsibilities of the editor of the school newspaper.

Upon returning to India in 1882, Kipling began to work for the newspaper industry and also started his literary
career officially, the fruit of which were Department Ditties and other Verses and Plain Tales from the Hills, his
first collections of verses and stories respectively. Towards the early 90s, his reputation as a poet was cemented
and his works began to be published in the National Observer which were later compiled in the Barrack-Room
Ballads. At this time he was fast becoming one of the most revered poets of the British Empire and the soldiers
at war were one of his most preferred subjects. His Barrack-Room Ballads and Soldiers Three contain some of
his best works on soldiers.

Kipling married Caroline Balestier in 1892 and the couple moved to Vermont in the States, during which time
he wrote his Jungle Book and Kim. His Jungle Book went on to make Kipling a name to be reckoned with in the
world of children’s literature and Kim, till now remains one of Kipling’s most famous works. He returned to
England again in 1896 and published his Captain Courageous. Kipling also visited South Africa extensively and
it was during his visit in time of the Boer War that he penned the Just-So Stories.

Kipling finally settled in Sussex with his family in 1992 where he spent the rest of his life devoted to the pen.
This man of letters left us on the 18th January, 1936. The poet’s other important works include The Seven Seas,
The Day’s Work, Trafficks and Discoveries, Debits and Credits, Thy Servant a Dog – for a few to name. Kipling
received many honorary degrees and awards in his lifetime such as the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of
Literature in 1926 and he turned down many honors as well such as a knighthood and the Poet Laureateship. His
contribution to Literature received the most recognition when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in
1907.

About the Poem IF: The poem If was published in 1910 in Kipling’s collection of short stories and verses
named ‘Rewards and Fairies’. This poem which is a dictum for meaningful living had for its inspiration the
‘Jameson Raid’ of 1895 which was a military action taken during the Boer War in South Africa. This raid, led
by Leander Starr Jameson, had resulted in a great rush of patriotism in England in spite of being a failure. This
was because the English public saw this military action of Jameson and his willingness of take responsibility for
its fall, an act of exemplary courage. Kipling was also greatly moved by the patriotic sentiments which the
Jameson Raid had ushered all across the island and took inspiration from the same to pen If. In spite of being
published in 1910, the poem still remains a staple of inspirational Western Literature as it is a magnificent
tribute to the most noble virtues of being human. This poem has been so ingrained in the psyche of the British
people that a couplet from it has been engraved above the entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court which goes on
to reflect the poem’s timeless appeal and the ability of inspire. This poem has motivated a number of great
minds. Wayne Dyer while opining on the poem says, “The lofty ideas in his four-stanza poem inspire me to be a
better man each time I read it and share it with my children, students, and audiences.”

Setting of the Poem IF

Setting: The poem If does not have a conspicuous physical setting. However, after reading the poem one can
visualize a setting in which a father is speaking to his son and giving him the most valuable life lesson on how
to become a complete man. The token of personal philosophy and wisdom which the father imparts to his son
has universal validity. Hence the seemingly domestic setting in which the moral philosophies of the poem are
shared assume a much larger universal space.

Mood of the Poem IF

Mood: Since the poem If encapsulates within its thirty lines a blueprint for personal integrity, rightful behavior
and self-development; the mood of the poem is both didactic and serious. However, the didactic fiber of the
poem is not dry and preachy but highly motivational. The urgency and sublimity with which Kipling pens down
his moral axioms for becoming a virtuous human being infuses the general mood of the poem with a burst of
inspiration. Suggested reading:-

The poem If can be viewed as a set of guidelines on how to live and act with integrity and right values such that
one becomes the ideal human. Each of the four stanzas deals with different life situations and the best way to act
during them. The poem If does not have a conspicuous physical setting. However, after reading the poem one
can visualize a scene in which a father is speaking to his son and giving him the most valuable life lesson on
how to become a complete man. The token of personal philosophy and wisdom which the father imparts to his
son has universal validity. Read below and refer to additional links for If summary-

Setting and Mood of the Poem IF by Rudyard Kipling

IF Summary and Analysis by Rudyard Kipling

Keep your head: Keep a calm and composed state of mind

Losing theirs: Theirs here refers to heads. Losing one’s head means losing one’s calm and composure.

Make allowance: accommodate, consider

Don’t give way to hating: Not allowing oneself to feel hatred

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:

Through the first stanza of If, the poet Rudyard Kipling offers us his opinion on how to operate during times of
crisis. The poet urges readers that when the going gets difficult and things stop to work in our favor we must not
lose our composure and deal with the situation at hand in a calm fashion in order to salvage it. It is human nature
to save oneself the blame for failures and put it on others. The poet asks us to combat this basic human frailty
and harbor within ourselves the courage to take responsibilities for our actions that have produced the undesired
results just like Jameson did during the raid. During times of crisis, it is expected that people are going to lose
their rationality and indulge in blame games. The poet urges us to not give to the same.

The poet asks us to garner enough confidence to believe in oneself and our potential even if the others around us
have given up on us. Hence, we see that self-faith is a virtue which Kipling puts forward with high regard.
However, the poet warns us against getting over-confident. He says we must have confidence but not blind faith
in ourselves as the latter will stop us from giving ears to the valuable suggestions and recommendations of
others. In other words, we must make enough room in our heads for opposing ideas from others if they seem
legit.

Patience is another virtue which the poet advocates in favor of. The poet says that all monumental things take
time and hence we must not get tired of waiting for our plans to achieve full fruition as Rome can never be built
in a day.
The poet then points out another human weakness of lying and easily giving in to hatred if something does not
appeal to our way of thinking. He says that we must not deal with lies even if the people around us are spreading
wrong accounts of as doing so would stop us down to the level of those gossipmongers. Neither should we allow
ourselves to feel hatred for others, even if there are people hating us for whatever reasons. Hence, it is clear that
through the lines six and seven, the poet is asking us to keep an open mind, untouched by lies and hatred.
Kipling is aware that instilling these virtues in his readers might make them exceedingly self-congratulatory and
hence in the last line of the stanza, he asks us to shun any inclination towards abnormal self-regard.
Poetic Devices: If you can keep your head: This is an instance of synecdoche. In synecdoche, one thing is
replaced by another intimately associated with it. Here the abstractions, calm of mind and composure have been
replaced by the closely related head which is concrete.

When all men…: Here ‘men’ again is an instance of synecdoche. It is the kind of synecdoche where a part is
used for the whole. ‘Men’ here actually denotes all of humanity.

Line by Line Summary of IF – Stanza 2

Setting and Mood of the Poem IF by Rudyard Kipling

Line by Line Summary of IF – Stanza 1

IF Summary and Analysis by Rudyard Kipling

Make dreams your master: Allow your dreams, i.e. your wants and desires from life to take control over you

Make thoughts your aim: Becoming so rigid about one’s opinions and thoughts that you cannot take suggestions

Impostors: A person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others

Knaves: Dishonest men

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:

In the second stanza, If engulfs within its scope, the correct way to pursue one’s goals in life. Through the first
two lines the poet very succinctly explains to us the difference between being ambitious and a megalomaniac.
He says that it is all right to have ambitions and dreams in life. However, we must not get over ambitious, i.e.,
we must not let our dreams and desires take the better of us, such that they end up controlling our every waking
moment and change who we are. It is known that ambition can drive men crazy and hence Kipling asks us to
practice moderation when it comes to being ambitious. A lot of us suffer from the problem of assuming that our
outlook and way of thinking are the ‘be all and the end all’.

This syndrome is referred to as ‘making thoughts our aim’ by Kipling. He says that we must not be very rigid in
the way we think and must be open to good influences upon our thinking process. According to the poet these
values are important in getting us closer to our goals in life.
Next the poem imparts a very valuable lesson. He says that Success and Failure are a part and parcel of life and
there is nothing permanent about them. The poet calls them impostors since both success and failure are
powerful and have a disguise of permanence which makes a person feel either too optimistic or broken down.
The poet recommends his readers to treat both success and failure in the same way and not let them get to us
since both of them are as fickle as the wheel of Fortune.

Next, Kipling tells us that the road to attaining one’s goals is never an easy one and is filled with hurdles to be
encountered with such as people who might try to break our moral by misconstruing our righteousness and
virtue in a way that can be used against us. The poet asks us to not let the mind games of such people hinder us.
On our path to success we might have to encounter failures which might wipe away everything that we have
achieved. The poet’s word of advice for such a misfortune is to never give up. He asks us to develop within
ourselves such a potent power of creation that upon facing even the most brutal failures we can start from
scratch again.

Poetic Devices: Not make dreams your master: This is an instance of personification. In this particular poetic
device nature or any inanimate object or abstraction is invested with human attributes. Here, dream is given the
human attribute of being someone’s master.
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same: This again is an
instance of personification. Abstractions such as Triumph and Disaster have been given human attributes by
being referred to as impostors.

Hear the truth you’ve spoken twisted by knaves: This is an instance of extended metaphor in which an implied
far-fetched comparison is made between two dissimilar things. Here, comparison is being made between truth
and a flexible object that can be twisted.

Worn-out tools: Worn out tools here is a metaphor for human potential for creation which has become weak
and exhausted after facing a massive failure on the path of creating something meaningful.
Or watch the things you gave your life to: This is a slight instance of hyperbole. When the poet is saying things
that a per

Line by Line Summary of IF – Stanza 3

IF Summary and Analysis by Rudyard Kipling

Pitch and toss: A game based on luck in which you have equal chances of winning or losing

Sinew: That tissue of the body which unites the muscle and the bone

Serve your own: Work for you or in your favor

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 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!”

In the third stanza, Kipling furnishes his readers with the very important life advice of never giving up! Life is
unpredictable and filled with ups and downs. Trying to make one’s mark in the world is nothing short of a
gamble. The poet asks us not to be shy away from challenges just because we are scared that we might lose what
we already have. He says that the ideal man is the one who can put all of his life’s achievements at risk, while
aiming towards bigger goals. It takes immense strength of mind to shake off a loss in order to keep going but a
complete man is the one who does not cry over spilt milk and starts afresh from scratch even after being
completely snubbed and broken.
Towards the end of the stanza, Kipling adds that will power is the only key to persistence in spite of loss. If a
man is determined, he can make his heart, nerve and sinew serve him even in the most down trodden and
bleakest of times when everything seems to be going against his favor.

Poetic Devices: If you can make one heap of all your winnings/And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-
toss: The first line is an instance of the poetic device of vision in which an imaginary picture is penned by the
poet. Here, we see the image of a man stacking all his life’s achievements in a heap. In the second line, the act
of trying to become successful in life has been compared to a gambling game. These two lines are together an
instance of the poetic device of periphrasis in which a simple statement is expressed in a round-about way for
beauty’s sake. Through these elaborate lines, the poet is simply trying to say that one can only get successful by
taking risks.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew/To serve your turn long after they are gone: Heart, nerve and
sinew are metaphors for human potential and caliber. They have also been personified by being given the
human attributes of serving someone.

Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on: Will has been personified here as it has been shown by the poet
as performing the human action of saying.

Line by Line Summary of IF – Stanza 4

Keep your virtue: Keep your good qualities intact

Common touch: Common touch here implies modesty and a down to earth attitude

Men count with you: Men give you respect and regard

Unforgiving minute: If you waste time, it never forgives you.

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!

The final stanza the poet discusses the ideal modus operandi in life after success has been attained. Since these
are the poet’s final instructions to his readers, the lines are resplendent with poignancy and are worded in a way
which infuses our minds with a rush of inspiration. Kipling says that a great man is someone who fit into all
sections of the society seamlessly. He urges his readers to move around with the common masses without letting
go of their individuality. Humans tend to go with the flow because of the herd mentality. However, the perfect
man is the one who will not follow any rat race or trends blindly and will stand out in spite of being a part of the
crowd. Next, the poet warns us about the arrogance that often comes with great success.

He asks us to be wary of the heart numbing effects of success and motivates us to not let go of our compassion
or become too proud upon being accepted into the finest rung of the social ladder. What Kipling wants to tell us
here is that success is only palatable and meaningful if it is in a nexus with modesty.

The poet further adds that true success can only be attained if one reaches such a point in life that neither friends
nor foes can cause hurt in a way that reduces one’s productivity. A perfect human being is someone who is
dependanble. However, one must be careful to not make people so dependent upon oneself that they lose their
potential to work on their own.

The poet ends the poem with the parting advice that one must become the master of one’s own Time by
squeezing maximum productivity out of the smallest unit of Time. He urges his readers to fill an unforgiving
minute with “sixty seconds’ worth of distance run”. What Kipling is trying to say here is that Time does not
know how to forgive the ones who waste it. Even the smallest unit of Time has no mercy for the ones who do
not know how to utilize it. Hence, to get ahead in life, a man must make most of each of the sixty seconds in a
minute by filling it with a burst of activity since ever moment counts! Towards the very end of the poem,
Kipling assumes a fatherly stance and sincerely says – if one keeps in mind all the axioms of meaningful living
imparted by him, the world will be his playground and he will be able to conquer all! However, according to the
poet, the real reward of abiding by his guidelines will lie in the perfect man which this choice of lifestyle will
turn an individual into.

Poetic Devices: Or walk with kings: Here Kings is an instance of synecdoche. The term Kings has been used
here to represent people from higher classes.

Unforgiving Minute: This is an instance of personification. The abstraction minute has been invested with the
human attribute of being merciless.

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it: This is an instance of hyperbole in which an idea is poetically
magnified for the sake of beauty and emphasis. By this sentence what Kipling actually means to say is that a
man can achieve his goals his life if he subscribes to the dictums forwarded by him in the poem.

Apart from the poetic devices discussed, there is also the device of antithesis that has been used in abundance in
the poem. In antithesis contrasted words or ideas are put together for the sake of emphasis. Lines such as If you
can dream – and not make dreams your master, If all men count with you, but none too much are a few more are
good examples of antithesis.
The poem If can be viewed as a set of guidelines on how to live and act with integrity and right values such that
one becomes the ideal human. Each of the four stanzas deals with different life situations and the best way to act
during them. The poem If does not have a conspicuous physical setting. However, after reading the poem one
can visualize a scene in which a father is speaking to his son and giving him the most valuable life lesson on
how to become a complete man. The token of personal philosophy and wisdom which the father imparts to his
son has universal validity.

Form and Structure: The structure of the poem If is taut, neat and symmetrical. It has been divided into four
identical stanzas of eight lines each. Hence, the poem has thirty two lines in total.

The meter of the stanzas is iambic pentameter, which means each line can be divided into five feet with one
unstressed and stressed syllable each in that order. This gives the form of the poem a sense of cohesion and
order which is very much in keeping with the central idea of the poem which advocates an ordered and
controlled lifestyle. Iambic Pentameter invests an ambience of control and order to any poem.

Rhyme Scheme: The 1st stanza of the poem follows the rhyming pattern of AAAABCBC whereas the 2nd , 3rd and
4th stanzas follow the rhyming pattern of ABABCDCD.

Central Idea of IF by Rudyard Kipling:

Life only has meaning when it has been lived meaningfully and our identity as human beings can only be
ratified in the real sense of the term if we live virtuously by following a set of high moral codes and conduct.
Rudyard Kipling’s If is a blueprint for all those qualities and virtues which we must inculcate within us to be
able to call ourselves complete human beings and also in order to attain true success in life. In course of the
thirty two lines of the poem, Kipling advocates the virtues of composure, patience, integrity, modesty, control,
perseverance, tolerance determination, confidence – for a few to cite. This poem is the like a rule book to perfect
the art of living and being human.

Form and Structure: The structure of the poem If is taut, neat and symmetrical. It has been divided into four
identical stanzas of eight lines each. Hence, the poem has thirty two lines in total.

The meter of the stanzas is iambic pentameter, which means each line can be divided into five feet with one
unstressed and stressed syllable each in that order. This gives the form of the poem a sense of cohesion and
order which is very much in keeping with the central idea of the poem which advocates an ordered and
controlled lifestyle. Iambic Pentameter invests an ambience of control and order to any poem.

Rhyme Scheme: The 1st stanza of the poem follows the rhyming pattern of AAAABCBC whereas the 2nd , 3rd and
4th stanzas follow the rhyming pattern of ABABCDCD.

Theme of the Poem IF:

The over-arching theme of the poem If is successful virtuous living based on values pertaining to integrity,
rightful behavior and self-development. The poem speaks to each and every reader on what it means to become
a complete man and how he operates through the thick and thins of life. The various values and codes of
conduct imparted through the poem form the different sub-themes of the poem, which are as follows:

Rightful Behavior: Most of what this poem advocates deals with rightful behavior such as keeping a calm head
and maintaining composure during times of crisis instead of indulging in blame games. The poet also adds that
we must not deal with lies or brew hatred in our hearts even if the ones around us are doing the same. Upon
achieving success or failure the poet advocates the rightful stance of not letting any of these promotions or set-
backs influencing us. Instead we must understand the temporary nature of the ups and downs in life and go
about our business in a steadfast, unaffected fashion.

Modesty: Modesty is one theme which shines out in the poem. The poet asks us to never get too self-righteous
even if we have the best set of virtues and abide by strict moral codes: And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too
wise. Money often comes in suit with arrogance. The poet urges his readers to practice modesty upon getting
successful in life so that he can fit in seamlessly with the kings as well as the common masses.

Balance: Maintaining balance and control in all aspects of life is an important theme which the poem forwards.
The poet asks us to give our maximum effort to our goals in life but at the same times asks us to not make our
ambition and dreams our be all and end all. He asks us to have faith in our belief system but not so much that we
become immune to the valuable opinions of others.

Patience: There is also the theme of patience in the poem. The poet asks us to patiently wait for our efforts to
reach fruition because all good things take time to materialize.

Self-belief: Belief in the self is one another sub-theme in the poem. The poet asks us to not lose faith in our
beliefs and convictions even if the ones around us begin to lose hope in us.

Risk Taking: The poem often showcases life as a gamble in which all our achievements might get washed away.
The poet wants us to be willing to take that risk in life as it will bring us closer to our final goals in life.

Persistence: The ‘never-give-up’ outlook towards life is one major theme of the poem. The poet asks us to keep
striving towards our goals, against all odds, even if it involves putting all of our life’s achievements at stake.
Shall we lose all we have while trying to get ahead in life, we must not back down but muster enough will
power and determination to start again from scratch.

Time Management: The unforgiving nature of Time comes out in the last stanza of the poem. The poet stresses
upon the fact that Time when lost never comes back so one must give every second of our waking minutes all
we have to make the most of it.

Conclusion of the Poem IF

If by Rudyard Kipling is one of the most fervent pieces on what it means to lead a life that has been made
meaningful through right virtues and values. This poem consists of just thirty two lines but within its purview it
encompasses some of the most integral life lessons that can be put to use during the good as well as the bad
times which we go through in life. Some of the virtues and qualities forwarded in the poem might seem lofty
and even impossible to attain but there is no denying the fact that they are the crux of what humanity can offer
best. In short, this poem paints a wonderful and inspiring picture of how an ideal man leads an ideal life! The
poem is recommended from reader to reader and passed from generation to generation because of its capacity to
move the hearts of the readers and inspire