IF BY RUDYARD KIPLING

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!



This poem was originally intended as a paternal advice to Mr. Rudyard Kipling's son Mr. John Kipling. It is one of the most loved poems by an English poet. This poem is adored for its powerful evocation of Victorian Stoicism and its style. Originally published in 1910, this poem has remained at the forefront of motivational poetry ever since its publication.
Mr. John Kipling was killed in action during the First World War and it had a tremendous impact on Mr. Rudyard Kipling. His first daughter Josephine also predeceased him, as she succumbed to pneumonia in 1899.
Mr. Rudyard Kipling was an influential writer and journalist of his time. In 1907 he became the first English language recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature.

Recitation by me as this is one of my personal favorites.


Creation of Ranadeb Bhattacharya

Recorded @ StudioSpandan
Recorded by Sourav Dey


#motivationalpoetry
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Please watch: "The Burden of Being Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkP8c182nV8
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