Great English poet Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865. The author of the work "Book of Jungle", which brought him world glory. The first English who received Nobel prize. I had the opportunity to meet with his poem “If”.
”If”:
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 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!
In his work "IF" Kipling showed a sample "real" person. When all forces are exhausted, under certain conditions, a person is able to hold in the direction of ideals. In my opinion, Kipling laid an important thought in the work - a man must be the master of his own personality. After reading the poem “IF”, at first glance it can be noted its clear, slender composite structure. The last two lines are expressed as a result of all the conditions set in the text. It is possible to conclude that the poem of Kipling “IF” is a direct program of behavior to be guided in everyday life.