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COMPILED BY- Chitvan Kaur

*Please Note- These notes have been compiled from various Internet sources with minor alterations by me. Thus,
students are advised to use them for reference purpose only and to create their own versions of answers.

IF
~Rudyard Kipling

IMPORTANT WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS

impostors = people who pretend to be someone else

knave = tricky, deceitful, unprincipled person

sinew = tissue that connects muscles to bones

common touch = ability to be along with ordinary people

breathe a word = tell a secret; talk about something
make allowance = permit; allow

master dominant = power and control

pitch-and-toss = a game of skill and chance

serve your turn= be useful; helpful

stoop = bend

triumph = victory; success

winnings = money that is won in a game

wise = smart

worn-out = damaged
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CENTRAL IDEA

The key idea of the poem is that success comes through self-control and a true sense of the
values of life. Peril lies in extremes. A man must not lose heart due to suspicions or opposition,
but he must make every effort to see the grounds for both. He must not be deceived into thinking
either victory or final disaster; he must use every one of them wisely and move on. He has to
hold on to the golden mean in all situations. If he does, he’ll own the world, and even better,
he’ll reach the highest status of manhood for his personal reward.

THEME

1. Stoicism- It is the endurance of pain and hardships without any complaint. The narrator
advises his son not to complain about his loss in front of people rather be strong and self-
sufficient. No matter how harsh the situation may be, the son is advised to stay stiff-
necked and brave.
2. Advice and Guidance- The poem is an advice and a guidance that a father gives to his
son. The father wants his son to become a better human being and achieve success in life.
In order to become a noble and successful man in life, the son is told to act upon the
advice his father gives him and to avoid the negative things in life.
3. Living life to the fullest- The narrator advises his son to take risks and chances in life.
He tells him to live life to its fullest. When a person fear taking risks, his life becomes
empty and boring. He can achieve nothing in life. In order to become a successful person
and to achieve greater things in life, one should take risks and try every path that might
reach his goal.
4. Parent and Child Relationship- This poem talks about parent-child relationships. A
father gives advice to his son in a friendly and rather unemotional way but he does care
for his son and wants him to achieve success in life and to become a better human being.
5. Avoid Extremes- The son is advised by his father to avoid extremes. The father advises
his son to be a modest person so that it would be easy to walk with kings and keep in
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touch with common people. He is also advised neither to be too good nor to be hateful
but to keep a balance.
6. Remain Humble- The father tells his son to be humble. He is advised to be good to
everyone. If someone does bad to him, he should let go of the negative things and stay
positive. He should listen to the opinions of people and what they say, though he takes a
decision of his own. He should be good to all and never be hateful to haters. This is the
way to success.
7. Men and Masculinity- The poem has a masculine theme; it is about teaching boys how
to become men. The father specifically addresses his son and teaches him different ways
towards goodness and success. He advises him to adopt certain traits in order to become a
“Man”.
8. Loss and Defeat- In the poem, the father wants to tell his son that loss and defeat is a
part of life. If one fails to achieve something even after trying hard, he must not give up
trying. He should rather try hard and achieve his goal.
The person may become exhausted and wants to quit it but he should not quit trying
because when a person fails in achieving his goal for the first time, he discovers new
ways of achieving his goal and this is how success is achieved.

TITLE JUSTIFICATION

Most of the lines of this poem begin with the word, “If”. To become a “Man,” readers have to
incorporate those ideas into their minds. Only then, they can succeed in life. The choice is
conditional. Whether to adopt them or not, is up to the listener. Therefore, the poem is titled, ‘If
—’. If one reads the poem wholeheartedly and obeys those principles, only then he or she can get
success.

SUMMARY

Joseph Rudyard Kipling is the author of the poem “If”. ‘If—’ by Rudyard Kipling was written in
1895. The poem was first published in “Rewards and Fairies” in 1910. It appears in the chapter
titled, “Brother Square-Toes” of the book. In this poem, Kipling's speaker outlines for his son the
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behaviours and attitudes it takes to become a man—in this case, a gentleman in British society. A
concept from the Italian Renaissance that lies behind the speaker's advice.

In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker advises his son to cultivate keeping his cool or
keeping chill when others around him are losing it. He also advises his son not to repay low
behaviour with low behaviour—don't respond to lies with lies or hate with hate. In other words,
to use current parlance, when others go low, you should go high. He advises sprezzatura, too,
when he states his son should make this all look natural and effortless and thus he says-

“yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise”

In the second stanza, the speaker turns to advising his son to develop self-control, as well as an
ability to hear the truth and avoid flattery and have grace under pressure. No matter what
happens, his son should respond to it with cool composure, treating triumph and disaster with the
same ease. If his life's work is broken, he should simply quietly and graciously pick up the pieces
and rebuild, as if it is costing him no effort. As he quotes in the poem-

“watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools”

In the third stanza, the speaker tells his son he needs to develop nerve as well as grace under
pressure. He describes this as follows:

“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”

It's nervy to bet everything on one toss—but the important thing is to keep chill no matter what
happens. Never complain or show your pain. Always maintain the stiff upper lip.

In the final stanza, the speaker tells his son he should treat all people, whether kings or
commoners, with the same courtesy, and that moreover, he should stay aloof, never getting too
close to anyone, so that
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“neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you”

At this point, if he can do all of this, his son will "be a Man."

POETIC/ LITERARY DEVICES

GENRE

The poem “If” is a dramatic monologue where the narrator speaks continuously, providing
guidance and advice to the reader. The narrator, being a father, addresses his son and guides him
how to become a perfect man. The narrator, while advising his son, is not interrupted by any
other person.

TONE

The tone of the poem is advisory, didactic and fatherly. Since the poem is a long list of advices
its tone remains the same throughout the poem. It guides the reader to live a life full of faith and
dignity. The reader is advised to have faith in himself and lead an honorable life.

SYMBOLISM IN THE POEM

1. WALK WITH KINGS

“Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch,” (line 26)

In the above line, walk with kings is a symbol for high status and success. A person must not
lose connection with common people in his life after achieving high status and success, he
should rather keep a balance.
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2. CROWDS

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,” (line 25)

Here crowds symbolize common people. The reader is advised here to keep his personal
goodness and individual dignity in the midst of a crowd so that people may not misguide him.

3. COMMON TOUCH

“Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch,”

In the above line, common touch is a symbol for humility and modesty. A person after achieving
success must not lose the connection with common people. He is advised to stay modest.

4. MAN

“And-which is more-you will be a Man, my son!” (line 32)

Here the “Man” is a symbol of good qualities that the father wants his son to adopt.

METAPHOR

1. IMPOSTERS

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster (line 11)

And treat those imposters just the same;” (line 12)

In the above lines Triumph and Disaster are compared to imposters using a metaphor. The reader
is told to treat them equally. He should not dwell in his success as it is not long-lasting. He must
also not lose heart after facing failure because it is not permanent. They both do not stay
permanently in a person’s life but come and go.
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2. KNAVES

“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken” (line 13)

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,” (line 14)

Here the metaphor knaves is used for dishonest people.

3. GAMBLING

“If you can make one heap of all your winnings,” (line 17)

In the above line taking a chance or risk in life is compared to the game of gambling. A person
while taking risks may win or lose just like the game of gambling.

4. DREAM

“If you can dream-and not make dreams your master,” (line 9)

Here, the metaphor dream is used to talk about one’s goals in life. It refers to one’s ambitions
and goals that one wants to achieve but while dreaming about achieving that goal one should be
rational and realistic as well.

PERSONIFICATION

1. TRIUMPH AND DISASTER

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,

And treat those imposters just the same;”

Triumph and Disaster are personified to imposters. It is said that if you meet these two, never
believe them to be real and long-lasting but temporary.
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2. WILL

“Expect the Will which says to them Hold on!” (line 24)

Will is personified here by giving it the human quality of speaking. The narrator says that those
who are exhausted and tired of trying, their will power motivates them to keep moving.

ALLITERATION

 “And-which is more-you’ll be a Man my son!” (line 32)

 “Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools” (line 14)

The above two lines show the repetition of the consonant “m” and “t” respectively, at the
beginning of the neighbouring words.

ASSONANCE

 “And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:” (line 8)

The above line shows the repetition of the vowel “o”.

LINE BY LINE EXPLAINATION

First Stanza

“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,”

To be a good human being and to succeed in life, we should keep calm when other people
around us are losing their cool. We should not lose our temperament even if others are blaming
us for their fault.

Losing the temper does not solve a problem, rather intensifies that. Keeping the head cool makes
us think wisely to face those tough situations, and ultimately a solution comes out.
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“If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too”

We should have the faith in ourselves, even when others doubt us. But after that, we should give
some importance to their doubt too and try to find out what may be the reason for their suspicion.
After all, ‘To err is human…’.

So, by keeping faith in ourselves we make sure that we don’t get demoralized or disheartened.
And, by allowing others’ doubt a little space of thought, we ensure that we are not doing
something wrong knowingly or unknowingly.

“If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,”

We should work hard and wait for the result patiently. We should not get tired by waiting.

There are a number of real life examples where people missed big opportunities only by losing
their patience. Moreover, there goes a number of proverbs. “Hurry will bury you.” “Haste makes
waste.” “Patience pays off.” So, it’s quite understandable why the poet makes a point for
patience here.

“Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,”

People may lie about us to others, but we should not indulge ourselves in lies. In other words, we
should always remain truthful.

If we are misled or tempted to lie, people would ultimately discover the truth and won’t believe
us anymore. That’s why it’s important to speak the truth even if that hurts us.

“Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,”

People may show their hatred towards us, yet we should not hate them. We should show our love
and respect to others.

No man or woman is perfect in this world. Everyone has his strengths and weaknesses. We have
to accept that and respect them for the good qualities in them.

“And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise”
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We should not show us as too good a person or talk too wisely with common people, even after
possessing such qualities.

Having acquired all these good qualities mentioned above, people generally feel proud and tend
to show off how good they are. But, the poet warns us not to go that way. In that case, others
would feel uncomfortable in our company and avoid us. Even others may try to prove us wrong
at any cost, leading to an unhealthy competition.

Second stanza

“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master”

To do something bigger, we should dream first. But the poet also reminds us not to be guided by
unrealistic dreams. If dreams take the driver’s seat, we would get detached from reality and
eventually fail.

There goes a saying – “You have to dream first before your dream can come true.” So we should
dream to reach great heights in life, but keeping the reality in mind.

“If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim”

We should be able to think over a matter, but should not make the thoughts our aim. That is to
say that we often lose our radar and get detached from the main point. So our thinking should not
be scattered misleading us away from the target.

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;”

Life is a combination of success and failure, joy and sorrow, good times and bad times. We
should accept both and face both situations with similar treatment.

Here the poet personifies Triumph and Disaster, capitalizing and calling them ‘two impostors’
(pretenders or cheaters). People becomes too happy in success and forgets their duty at hand. We
may also get too complacent or proud at a small success, reducing our chances to reach higher
goals. Again, at bad times, if we are too grieved, we may lose our faith and confidence. In both
cases, our regular course of work is hampered. That is why the poet calls triumph and disaster
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‘two impostors’. He asks us to treat those deceivers similarly, with a smiling face. In short, don’t
be too happy or too sad under any circumstances.

“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,”

We have to bear the tough situations where we see that our speech or statement is distorted by
someone to befool others.

Very often we see that people misinterpret or even deliberately distort our words to use it in their
favour. We should not lose our temper hearing that. Rather we should tolerate that, ensuring we
have spoken the truth.

“Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:”

We have to hold our nerves even after seeing that our favourite thing that we built with all our
effort and time is broken. Then we have to pick up the scattered parts and build it all over again.
This is another key to getting to the top of the world, according to the poet.

To keep our cool is not easy in such a situation. But patience and the mental toughness would
help us build them again. Indeed, there is a story about Newton that the papers containing his
theories were destroyed in fire, and he wrote them again from the beginning.

Third Stanza

“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;”

We should be able to accumulate all we have and take a risk in one turn of the game of pitch-
and-toss. We may lose the game and all our possessions. But we have to stay calm without
uttering a word about that loss and rebuild it from the beginning.
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Here the poet talks about the capability of taking big risks to achieve much greater success and
keeping quiet even if we lose the bet. This is yet another aspect of our mental toughness that we
need to possess.

“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 four lines above the poet continues the same theme of mental strength and the power of
Will. We have to force our body (heart and nerve and sinew) to serve us even after it has lost the
strength due to old age or illness. Thus, we should keep on working driven by the power of Will
which would ask them (heart and nerve and sinew) to ‘hold on’ compelling them to do their job.

If we want to do something great from our heart, the Will inside us would prevent the body from
getting tired. Indeed, there goes a proverb: “When going gets tough, the tough gets going.”

Fourth stanza

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,”

We should stay in touch with people from every class of the society. We should be able to talk
with common mass without losing our virtue or moral values. Again, we should be able to walk
with kings without going beyond the reach of the common people.

The common touch would help us realize the reality and feel the needs of the society. On the
other hand, the noble touch would give us the power and opportunity to reach higher goals.

“If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;”

We should build ourselves strong enough, mentally and physically, so that neither enemies nor
loving friends can hurt us. Moreover, we should develop healthy relationship with everyone
around us, and should not allow anyone to harm us.
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We have to develop our personality the right way, so that everyone supports us and gives us
importance (count with you), but none too much. If we allow someone to give us too much
importance, we may be emotionally bound. That may restrict our freedom and prevent us from
doing our duty. Or, we may get complacent thinking that we are so much liked by people, thus
reducing our effort.

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,”

Time is precious. A minute is filled with sixty seconds. Time (minute) is here called unforgiving,
as it waits for none and doesn’t forgive him who wastes it. We should utilize every minute of our
life in productive work. Wasting time is not something we can afford in our short lifespan.

“Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son.”

Finally comes the achievement that we can get if we fulfill all the conditions mentioned so far.
We can win this earth and everything in it. We can go to top of the world and rule over
everything. And what is more, we would be a complete and perfect human being.

We should not forget that Kipling wrote this poem for his son, as it is addressed in the very last
line. The poet wanted to show his son the right way to be a future leader. But it has inspired
many a man in their journey of life on earth so far.
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Source Links
 https://litpriest.com/poems/if-summary-rudyard-kipling/
 https://smartenglishnotes.com/2020/02/01/if-by-rudyard-kipling-summary-questions-figures-
of-speech/
 https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-is-a-detailed-summary-of-the-poem-if--by-
265336
 https://poemanalysis.com/rudyard-kipling/if/
 https://englicist.com/topics/poem-if