If - Rudyard Kipling.
My favorite poem. which is suprising becasue I usually think poetry is boring, but this...is brilliant.
Rudyard Kipling was a British writer who was born in India. He wrote many famous works including 'The Jungle Book' a collection of stories. Some of the stories (about a boy called Mowgli who was raised by wolves ) were later made into a famous Disney movie with great music. You can find out more about Kipling, his life and his works here. He did write exceedingly good books.
Some of the ideas in the poem might need a bit of thinking about. but hey, that is why this is at advanced level!
This video shows Tennis legend Roger Federer in action.
Why is Roger Federer in a video about a poem?
Well, you might notice that the video is all of Roger playing at Wimbledon, which he has won lots of times. On the way out onto the centre court at Wimbledon, there is a message on the wall for the players. That message comes from this poem. it says...
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same..
Watch the video, listen to the poem and complete the gaps below.
- Fill in the gaps
- See the Lyrics
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 imposters 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 on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can firce 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!
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 on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe 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!
Vocabulary help.
Pitch and Toss - A simple gambling game with coins
Knave - A very old word for a criminal or dishonest person
Sinew - Tendon, you have them in your body.
Foes - Enemies