If by Rudyard Kipling analysis

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If — Rudyard Kipling

Summary

Kipling’s famous poem about human nature offers a catalogue of thoughtful advice to a young male, consisting of the many qualities he feels are essential to become a man, such as self-belief, modesty, humility and truthfulness.

Introducing the poem

‘What advice would a father give to a son who is ready to leave home and venture out into the world on his own? Explore the different areas of life you think the father feels are important enough to guide his son through. Imagine the conversation between them.’

Structure and form

Kipling’s guidance takes the form of a series of opposites, for example, ‘keep…lose’ and ‘trust…doubt’. These slowly build up in the course of the poem to reveal only in the concluding line the main reward for doing so, that is, as a symbol of having reached manhood. The alternate rhyme scheme maintains the momentum of the counsel and since this lengthy poem appears to be merely one sentence long, this implies the spiritual and mental journey to manhood is a long, complicated and challenging one.

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Language/comments

The long list of qualities that Kipling suggests lead to manhood are numerous (and viewed realistically, appear collectively unattainable). This is why the future conditional tense is repeatedly used (signalled by ‘if’) as it expresses the sheer difficulty of the task. Yet the rewards offered justify any sacrifices made ‘Yours is the earth … you’ll be a Man’.

By constant repetition of the second person singular ‘you’ (with implications of a plural address too, encompassing us all), the narrator achieves a direct appeal and maintains our interest. By the end of the poem we are intrigued to ...

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