An Explication Of The Poem

George. His ashes were buried in poets? Corner in West Minister Abbey. Rudyard

Kipling was overall an outstanding figure in the 19th centrury. Even though his style has

“dropped out of modern literature” his stories and novels are still heard today.

In the poem “If” there are thirty-two lines or verses, and four stanzas. The

metrical pattern alternates from trochaic pentameter to iambic pentameter from one line

to the other. The rhyme sceme is ABAB except for the first four lines which all rhyme.

Examples of sound devices include aliteration. There is aliteration in line six, “Or being

lied about, don?t deal in lies”, line eight, “And yet don?t look too good, nor talk too

wise”, and line twelve “And treat those two imposters just the same.” Other signs of

aliteraion are found in lines fourteen, eighteen, twenty-four, twenty-six, thirty, and in line

thirty-two. Another example of a sound device is assonance. Assonance can be found in

line one, “If you can keep your head when all about you”, line sixteen, “And stoop and

build ?em up with worn-out tools”, and line eighteen, “And risk it on one turn of pitch-

and-toss”. Other signs of assonance is seen in lines twelve, thirteen, sixteen, twenty,

twenty-seven, and twenty-three. There is no onomatopoeia in the poem “If”.

There is few signs of literal language. In line nine it says, “If you can

dream?and not make dreams your master,” there is a sense of being in a dream world.

In line thirteeen, “Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build

?em up with worn-out tools,” a picture of someone working with old tools runs through

the mind. In line twenty-five, “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,” this

line lets the reader imagine talking to a group of people. In line thirty, “With sixty

seconds? worth of distance run,” the reader imagines running down a track.

In the poem “If” figurative language is shown rarely. In line eleven, “If you can

meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same,” there is

personification. In line twenty-four, “Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

In his poem, Rudyard Kipling tries to set forth his ideas of what a real man should

be like. He states many morals and advice that people can use in there everyday life. He

tells the reader how not to let the reader let the real world bring you down, and not to be

self-conceited with yourself our thoughts. The poem can apply not only to men but also

to women and the entire world. His thoughts and morals can always be found in any of

the poems he writes.