Poem If by Rudyard Kipling Why do you think there is no mention of women anywhere in this poem? Was this poem meant only for boys? 50-60 words (3 marks)
Answers
STORY/SUMMARY
This is a lyric poem, so there’s not exactly a story to it — instead, it’s an exploration of an idea. In this case the speaker is addressing the reader, giving us some wise advice. This advice takes the form of how to be, but also what to avoid in life — and to not copy the bad behaviour of others.
In Stanza 1 Kipling says to stay strong and clear-headed even if others are hostile towards us, to trust ourselves even when others don’t (but also to accept that they might doubt us), to encourage patience, to not lie even if people lie about us, to not hate others even if we are hated ourselves, and finally to not boast or seem too perfect and clever about all of our strengths — we shouldn’t ‘look too good, nor talk too wise’.
Stanza 2 gives advice on our thoughts and actions: we should think and dream, but not allow these to control us, and we should not be too influenced by moments of extreme success (Triumph) or failure (Disaster). We should also be able to withstand seeing our truths manipulated by others, and our hard work coming undone or being broken. When something we’ve put effort into has broken, we should work to fix it again.
Stanza 3 explores the idea of perseverance — never giving up. Kipting extends the concepts of success and failure, saying that we should be able to lose everything we’ve earned and still have the motivation to build it back up, as well as never complaining to others about the loss. We should push our nerves and emotions as far as they’ll go, and then some more — by making our willpower stronger than anything else.
Finally, in Stanza 4 is about achieving greatness, but staying humble — Kipling says we should keep our individuality and goodness when talking to crowds, as well as staying in touch with everyday people even when achieving high status. We should make ourselves liked by everyone, although not the point of obsession. If we can fill even the smallest amount of time with achieving our long term projects and goals, then ‘the Earth’ is ours — and we will be fully adult.
SPEAKER/VOICE
The poem has a personal, emotional and motivational tone which is intended to inspire its readers — for this reason, it is likely that the speaker is the poet himself (Kipling). His personality comes across as passionate and positive, but also very balanced — he understands the difficulties we must face in life and that there will be ups and downs, so his message is to not get carried away with the good, but also remain positive during the bad — in other words, we should always be moderate rather than extreme in our reactions.
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