If - Rudyard KiplingIf 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!
-- Rudyard Kipling I don't know if my interpretation of this poem is correct or whatnot, because i gave the review section a scroll and many of the comments posted aren't in sync with my interpretation of it... but, it is what you make it to be for yourself, no?
I like this poem because, to me... it reflects values and ideologies i hold myself to. Conviction, determination, equality in mankind, risk, responsibility and ultimately...
self-reliance.
Which is what i identify to be the key theme/message of this poem.
Kipling seemingly suggests that our existence in the world, our model of reality (of the material world) is merely just an illusion.
If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim,
...
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
I think, serves to indicate how, in order to survive in this fictional reality without self-destructing..... we need to learn how to take charge and be in control of our own destiny and life -- and learn not to be overly reliant on physical (material) attachments. [which includes people or any other tangible relationship.... friends, family, lovers... symbiotic to many philosophies]
We have to learn how to adapt, to find happiness in the material things in life... but not make these things "your master"... "In so doing you will live ethically, in the present moment, harm no-one and help many, give much but ask for nothing in return and ultimately you will experience 'happiness'"
because these things perish. and you'd end up broken if that's all you build your life around, and let people..... things..... material objects define you and run your life.
I guess i could understand why i like this poem so much. It runs symbiotic to William E. Henley's "Invictus" which also has a firm grounding in self-reliance and internal strength. Any thoughts? Conflicting views?
