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 all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath 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
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 all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath 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
7 comments:
Steve,
This poem has been marked in one of my poetry books for a number of years. I have been considering how I might respond to your post and I decided I would just ask a question first. Can you share a bit about why you like this poem so much?
My reaction to this poem is always bittersweet. I aspire to what it admonishes, but I only remember the times I missed it.
For me, this poem expresses as clearly as anything I've ever read how challenging it is to be true to my self, to be fully human. I am stung by the realization of how often I automatically think, 'what is expected of me in this situation?' or 'what will people think of me if I do (or don't do) so-and-so?' This poem challenges me, as an alternative to that mind-less way of living, to think for myself, to act on the basis of my deepest values, to love and stay in touch with others while unashamedly being true to my self, even when being true to my self is unpopular or costly. The poem describes the man or woman who can remain clear about her life and purpose, even while enormous pressures push upon her to be passive and live like the crowd. I hear this as an invitation to become fully human, to live as one created in the image of God, to do the hardest and most important thing: to be my self.
Here, hear.
I like what you have written very much. Bravo for such a well written summary. I’m struck by the realism in the poem. It describes what human life is really like,the difficulty of living in a broken world. At every turn there are challenges which we have to face head on; there can be no running away. It reminds us that the circumstances that we face in life do not determine how we respond. We are not re-actors but have response-ability.
This poem is not a flight into idealism but reflects the actual historical concrete situation of a close friend of the author who displays the character the poem describes through his life. He writes the poem not as an abstract possibility of how one should respond but an actual reflection of a close friend’s example during a time of war. So, it reflects the concrete historical existence of an actual human person. In that sense the poem is incarnational. It is embodied not abstract theory.
I can strongly identify with what you say about being authentic to ones true self which the poems clearly champions. There is no greater freedom than to be the self God has created you to be. It is no easy task. You said “I hear this as an invitation to become fully human, to live as one created in the image of God, to do the hardest and most important thing: to be myself.” This is a very beautiful statement. I would like to add a further thought which I think you may agree with. It is not just being myself that is important but being myself within a larger framework of something bigger and beyond myself. It is an actualization of the true self by giving oneself to something greater than the self. I suppose that is an obvious thought and does not need to be said.
The poem reminds me of how a gracious centered human being lives. Have we all lost our center? Can it be said that we are gracious centered human beings?
I discovered that some one thought because Kipling says that in living this way you will be a Man that they felt the need to create a poem called “If for Girls.” This is so not necessary because Kipling’s poem is speaking about the human person whether male or female. Being a human being is the first and primary distinction.
Bill's insight about this being based on a real person's character-driven behavior helps a lot. I have found it easier to live like the poet in warlike and hard situations. When forced (because I don't confront willingly) into a confontation, I have usually responded like Kipling talks about. My struggles have been in the mundane ordinary times. At the point of attack, clarity is much easier, but during those times of "abstinence" or disengagement it is much hard to function with such character and expressions of my individuality. This may be because we feel it doesn't matter much. In reality, it matters more.
Paul your last comments spurred a couple thoughts. First, what you said reminded me of something Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in Letters and Papers from Prison. He said, “I think we must rise to the great demands that are made on us personally and yet at the same time fulfill the common place and necessary tasks of life.” If you remember, these words were spoken during a time when he was working undercover in a conspiracy attempt to assassinate Hitler. His underground seminary had been shut down by the Nazis many of his best students had been put to death. It was in these circumstances that he spoke these words about the danger of neglecting the common place tasks of ordinary life in such times because of the great demands being placed on them.
My second thought relates to your comment when you said: “When forced (because I don't confront willingly) into a confrontation, I have usually responded like Kipling talks about. My struggles have been in the mundane ordinary times. At the point of attack, clarity is much easier, but during those times of "abstinence" or disengagement it is much harder to function with such character and expressions of my individuality.” That is so true! A few years back I gave some thought to what is called the “locus of control” which is a psychological term which refers to the location of control for decision making. Locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. People may be oriented in two different directions. A person with an internal locus of control takes the initiative to bring about change while a person with an external locus of control waits to be acted on from external events. It made me think when you indicated that it was easier for you to act as the poet when confronted by external circumstances and that without this external locus of control acting as a poet was much harder. There have been many areas of my life where I have waited years for external circumstances to bring about what I should have decided from an internal locus of control many years earlier. I can still think of specific areas of my life where this is still true. Anyway, your comments made me think of that tension in me, wanting to be a more decisive human being through a strong internal locus of control rather than waiting for external circumstances to act on me and bring about what I should have had the courage to do earlier in my life.
One thing is clear about the poem is that the person being described in it is a mature person with a strong internal locus of control. He does not let the external determine his choices or responses in life. He has decided what type of person he will be and how he will respond. As I have gone back and re-read every line of the poem I can see a decisive locus of control which is repeatedly internal. Animals react based on instinct, human beings are to make moment by moment choices and not merely react.
Well, your comments make me think of these two things; Bonheoffer’s struggle with giving the ordinary its proper place in the midst of unusually demanding times and the human beings locus of control. I wonder whether I would have acted decisively against Hitler or would have waited and hoped that somehow external circumstances would have brought about his demise without implicating myself. That is exactly what many good ordinary folks did. I also wonder about the loss of a significant portion of ones life from the lack of a strong internal locus of control to live creatively and with passion in the most ordinary moments. There are no little, insignificant moments. All moments of lived existence have significant consequences.
Maybe we all need more poetry in our lives because it is the poet who has a knack for taking the most ordinary of things and helping us see them in a completely new way, filling them with wonder.
Thanks for your comments. I’m sorry mine became longer than they should be and perhaps off track.
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