If—
If you can keep your head when all about youAre 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 DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted 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 winningsAnd risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone.And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept 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 minuteWith 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!
Words in this poem
- lied n.
- A lay; a German song. It differs from the French chanson, and the Italian canzone, all three being national. [G.]
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- sinew n.
- A tendon or tendonous tissue. See Tendon. [OE. sinewe, senewe, AS. sinu, seonu; akin to D. zenuw, OHG. senawa, G. sehne, Icel. sin, Sw. sena, Dan. sene; cf. Skr. snava. sq. root290.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
If— is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, If—, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/if.html, id L20365.
Form and metre
If— is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AAAABCBC youA · youA · youA · tooA · waitingB · liesC · hatingB · wiseC
- 2 ABABCDCD masterA · aimB · disasterA · sameB · spokenC · foolsD · brokenC · toolsD
- 3 ABABCDCD winningsA · tossB · beginningsA · lossB · sinewC · goneD · youC · onD
- 4 -A-ABCBC virtue · touchA · you · muchA · minuteB · runC · itB · sonC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If you can keep your head when all about you | 11 | ··········· |
| Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| But make allowance for their doubting too; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Or being hated don't give way to hating, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: | 10 | ·········· |
| If you can dream--and not make dreams your master; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim; | 10 | ·········· |
| If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| And treat those two impostors just the same; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: | 10 | ·········· |
| If you can make one heap of all your winnings | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, | 10 | ·········· |
| And lose, and start again at your beginnings | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| And never breathe a word about your loss; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To serve your turn long after they are gone. | 10 | ·········· |
| And so hold on when there is nothing in you | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' | 10 | ·········· |
| If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Or walk with Kings--nor lose the common touch; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| If all men count with you, but none too much; | 10 | ·········· |
| If you can fill the unforgiving minute | 11 | ·····˘˘/˘/˘ |
| With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son! | 10 | ·········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.