About the

poet
Joseph Rudyard Kipling
1865-1936
was an English short-story writer, poet and
novelist.
Born in Bombay, India, which at that time
belonged to Britain. When he was 5 years
old his family moved to England.
He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1907. Kipling was also offered a
knighthood on several occasions, but he
declined this honour.

The Poem
Analysis of the poem using:

Structure
Language
Imagery
Meaning
Effect

SLIM
E

Structure
Rhyme scheme of the poem? Looking at stanza
2
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 with Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth youve 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;

Structure
Enjambment?

Enjambment = the
continuation of a
sentence or clause
over a line-break

Structure
Caesura(e)?
Caesura = a strong
pause within a line.
E.g. a question mark
in the middle of a
sentence, a hyphen,
exclamation mark
etc

Lets look at the

language
Before we move onto annotating the
poem, count how many times the poet
uses the word If.
Why do you think he keeps repeating
the word?

Stanza 1
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
Imperatives
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt
you,
do not feel
But make allowance for their doubting too;like an order
or
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
commandin
Or being lied about, dont deal in lies,
g, but
Or being hated, dont give way to hating,friendly and
goodAnd yet dont look too good, nor talk too natured.
wise:
The repetition of the word
If in the poem creates
suspense. Piling on the
conditions while delaying
the consequence

Giving us
advice

Stanza 2
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim; Personificati
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
on is used to
promote
And treat those two impostors just the same;
caution
If you can bear to hear the truth youve spoken
against
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
impostors,
such as
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
Triumph and
And stoop and build em up with worn-out tools;
Disaster.

Stanza 3

Hints of
If you can make a heap of all your winnings recklessnes
s in the
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
area of
And lose, and start again at your beginningsgambling,
risk it all.
And never breathe a word about your loss; Chances
can be
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
taken and
To serve your turn long after they are gone, life should
not be
And so hold on when there is nothing in you mundane
but lived to
Except the Will which says to them Hold on!
the full.

Once again a capital

letter is used to
emphasise the
importance of your will
power.

By constant
repetition
of the
second
person
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
singular
Or walk with Kings nor lose the common touch,
you, the
narrator
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
achieves a
If all men count with you, but none too much;direct
appeal and
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
maintains
our
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,
interest.
Yours is the Earth and everything thats in However,
it,
by
end of
And which is more youll be a man my the
son!
the poem,
Wordswe
myare
son
The final exclamation mark
shocked
come as
a shock,
can be seen as
this
is
as wethat
realise
that
encouragement to take his
addressed
this
advice. Capital M for Man
is ato
dramatic
his son!
shows that to be a real man

Stanza 4

is of great virtue.

monologue.

Meaning?
Poem published in 1910. His son died in
1915
The poet sends us a message:
1. Remain humble
2. Avoid extremes
3. Find goodness even in the darkest
circumstances
4. Give us advice/tell us what to do

Effect
What do you feel when you hear this
poem?
What do you think about?
Remember to use the text when
explaining your feelings.