Q. Analyze the Theme of the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling.

Ans.
The central idea of the poem ‘If’ - life only has meaning when it has
been lived meaningfully. It encourages to live life virtuously by
following a set of high moral codes and conduct. Rudyard
Kipling’s ‘If’ is a blueprint for all those qualities and virtues which we
must inculcate within us to be able to call ourselves complete human
beings and also in order to attain true success in life. In course of the
thirty-two lines of the poem, Kipling advocates the virtues of
composure, patience, integrity, modesty, control, perseverance,
tolerance determination, confidence and so on. The various values
and codes of conduct imparted through the poem form the different
sub-themes of the poem, which are as follows:

Rightful behaviour: The poem advocates rightful behaviour such as

keeping a calm head and maintaining composure during times of
crisis instead of indulging in blame games. The poet also adds that
we must not deal with lies, brew hatred in our hearts, even if, the
ones around us are doing the same. Upon achieving success and
failure the poem advocates the rightful stance of not letting any of
these promotions or set-backs influencing us. Instead, we must
understand the temporary nature of the ups and downs in life and go
about our business in a steadfast, unaffected fashion.

Modesty: The poet asks us to never get too self-righteous even if we

have the best set of virtues and abide by strict moral codes: ‘And yet
don’t look too good, nor talk too wise’. The poet urges his readers to
practice modesty upon getting successful in life so that he can ably
walk and talk with the kings as well as the common masses.

Balance: Maintaining balance and control in all aspects of life is an

important theme which the poem forwards. The poet asks us to give
our maximum effort to our goals in life but at the same time asks us
to not make our ambitions and dreams our be all and end all. He asks
us to have faith in our belief system but not so much that we become
immune to the valuable opinions of others.
Patience: The poet asks us to patiently wait for our efforts to reach
fruition because all good things take time to materialize.
Self-belief: The poet asks us to not lose faith in our belief and
conviction even if the ones around us begin to lose hope in us.
Risk-taking: The poem showcases life as a gamble in which all our
achievements might get washed away. The poet wants us to be
willing to take that risk in life as it will bring us closer to our final goal
in life or the main prize.
Persistence: The ‘never-give-up’ outlook towards life is one major
theme of the poem. The poet asks us to keep striving towards our
goals, against all odds, even if it involves putting all of our life’s
achievements at stake. Shall we lose all we have while trying to get
ahead in life, we must not back down but muster enough will-power
and determination to start again from scratch.
Time Management: The unforgiving nature of Time comes out in the
last stanza of the poem. The poet stresses upon the fact that Time
when lost never comes back so one must give every second of our
waking minutes all we have to make the most of it.
Q. Analyze the summary of the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling.
Ans. ‘If— ‘is an inspirational poem that provides advice on how one
should live one’s life. The poem tells us the conditions that we should
meet to succeed in life and make this life happy and a beautiful one.
The whole poem is written in a single complex sentence. So, all the
subordinate clauses begin with ‘if’ and the main clause concluding
the entire theme comes at the end, and the poem ends with a mark
of exclamation. The poet speaks of the achievement at the end, after
discussing all the requirements to reach there, in order to suggest
that we can get the rewards only after we have fulfilled the
preconditions.

First stanza
The speaker reminds the reader of the importance of maintaining a
level head even when those around the reader do not have one and
are blaming the situation on the reader. To be a good human being
and to succeed in life, we should keep calm when other people
around us are losing their cool. We should not lose our temperament
even if others are blaming us for their fault. Losing the temper does
not solve a problem, rather intensifies that. Keeping the head cool
makes us think wisely to face those tough situations, and ultimately a
solution comes out.
The speaker emphasizes two traits that all people must possess: self-
trust and the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of
others even if that means understanding that people will not always
like or agree with you. We should have the faith in ourselves, even
when others doubt us. But after that, we should give some
importance to their doubt too and try to find out what may be the
reason for their suspicion. So, by keeping faith in ourselves we make
sure that we don’t get demoralized or disheartened. And, by allowing
others’ doubt a little space of thought, we ensure that we are not
doing something wrong knowingly or unknowingly.
The speaker then tells the reader to have patience. In addition, he
informs the reader that even if he or she is lied about, he or she
should not stoop to the level of a liar. If he or she is hated, he or she
must not become hateful, and finally, the reader should not appear
to be better than he or she actually is. People may lie about us to
others, but we should not indulge ourselves in lies. In other words,
we should always remain truthful. If we are misled or tempted to lie,
people would ultimately discover the truth and won’t believe us
anymore. That’s why it’s important to speak the truth even if that
hurts us. People may show their hatred towards us, yet we should
not hate them. We should show our love and respect to others. No
man or woman is perfect in this world. Everyone has his strengths
and weaknesses. We have to accept that and respect them for the
good qualities in them. We should not show us as too good a person
or talk too wisely with common people, even after possessing such
qualities. Having acquired all these good qualities mentioned above,
people generally feel proud and tend to show off how good they are.
But the poet warns us not to go that way. In that case, others would
feel uncomfortable in our company and avoid us. Even others may try
to prove us wrong at any cost, leading to an unhealthy competition.
Second stanza
The poet urges his reader to dream and think, but to not get so
caught up in dreams and thoughts that the reader loses his grasp on
reality. To do something bigger, we should dream first. But the poet
also reminds us not to be guided by unrealistic dreams. If dreams
take the driver’s seat, we would get detached from reality and
eventually fail.
He then says- Life is a combination of success and failure, joy and
sorrow, good times and bad times. We should accept both and face
both situations with similar treatment. Here the poet personifies
Triumph and Disaster, capitalizing and calling them ‘two impostors’
(pretenders or cheaters). People become too happy in success and
forget their duty at hand. We may also get too complacent or proud
at a small success, reducing our chances to reach higher goals. Again,
at bad times, if we are too grieved, we may lose our faith and
confidence. In both cases, our regular course of work is hampered.
He asks us to treat those deceivers similarly, with a smiling face. In
short, don’t be too happy or too sad under any circumstances.
The speaker informs the reader that he or she must be able to
endure hearing his or her words being twisted by dishonest and
harmful people in order to serve their own agendas.
The speaker demonstrates in the last two lines the importance of
being able to pick oneself up and start again if they fail—even if the
thing they’ve failed at has taken all of their life to attempt. We have
to hold our nerves even after seeing that our favourite thing that we
built with all our effort and time is broken. Then we have to pick up
the scattered parts and build it all over again. This is another key to
getting to the top of the world, according to the poet. To keep our
cool is not easy in such a situation. But patience and the mental
toughness would help us build them again.

Third stanza
The theme in the beginning lines is very similar to the one in the last
two lines of the previous stanza: if you lose everything, you must be
willing to begin again. Not only that, but you must also be willing to
forget about the loss and not dwell on it.
In the next lines, the speaker is imploring the reader to endure, even
if that feels both physically (sinew) and emotionally (heart and nerve)
impossible. The capitalization of “Will" is to emphasize the resilience
of the human spirit. If we want to do something great from our heart,
the ‘Will’ inside us would prevent the body from getting tired.

Fourth stanza
In the fourth stanza, the consequence of doing all of these “ifs” is
finally revealed, but not before Kipling presents us with three more
scenarios. The first one deals with how to treat others, regardless of
their social status in life. It should not matter with whom the reader
is walking; he or she needs to treat the lowest of the low and the
highest in a society exactly the same - with kindness.
He then dives right into the next “if”.
Kipling is reminding his reader that it is important to be able to
bounce back from disappointment or pain. One must not dwell on his
enemies or the hurt a loved one could potentially cause. We should
build ourselves strong enough, mentally and physically, so that
neither enemies nor loving friends can hurt us. Moreover, we should
develop healthy relationship with everyone around us, and should
not allow anyone to harm us. We have to develop our personality the
right way, so that everyone supports us and gives us importance
(count with you), but none too much. If we allow someone to give us
too much importance, we may be emotionally bound. That
may restrict our freedom and prevent us from doing our duty. Or, we
may get complacent thinking that we are so much liked by people,
thus reducing our effort.
Finally, the poet gives the reader his final piece of advice- Time is
precious. One must never give up or waste even a single second of
time. If you are given a minute, make sure you use all sixty seconds of
it. Finally, in the last two lines, the achievement, that we can get if we
fulfill all the conditions mentioned so far, is revealed. We can win this
earth and everything in it. We can go to top of the world and rule
over everything. And what is more, We would be a complete and
perfect human being.
We should not forget that Kipling wrote this poem for his son, as it is
addressed in the very last line. The poet wanted to show his son the
right way to be a future leader. But it has inspired many a man in
their journey of life on earth so far.
Q. Discuss the theme of the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling.
Ans.
The over-arching theme of the poem ‘If’ is successful virtuous living
based on values pertaining to integrity, rightful behaviour and self-
development. The poem speaks to each and every reader on what it
means to become a complete man and how he operates through the
thick and thins of life. The various values and codes of conduct
imparted through the poem form the different sub-themes of the
poem, which are as follows:
Rightful Behaviour: Most of what this poem advocates deals with
rightful behaviour such as keeping a calm head and maintaining
composure during times of crisis instead of indulging in blame games.
The poet also adds that we must not deal with lies, brew hatred in
our hearts, even if, the ones around us are doing the same. Upon
achieving success and failure the poem advocates the rightful stance
of not letting any of these promotions or set-backs influencing us.
Instead, we must understand the temporary nature of the ups and
downs in life and go about our business in a steadfast, unaffected
fashion. We must not be deceived into thinking either triumph or
disaster as final; must use each wisely and push on.
Modesty: Modesty is one theme which shines out in the poem. The
poet asks us to never get too self-righteous even if we have the best
set of virtues and abide by strict moral codes: ‘And yet don’t look too
good, nor talk too wise’. Money often comes in suit with arrogance.
The poet urges his readers to practice modesty upon getting
successful in life so that he can fit in seamlessly with the kings as well
as the common masses.
Balance: Maintaining balance and control in all aspects of life is an
important theme which the poem forwards. The poet asks us to give
our maximum effort to our goals in life but at the same time asks us
to not make our ambitions and dreams our be all and end all. He asks
us to have faith in our belief system but not so much that we become
immune to the valuable opinions of others.
Patience: The poet asks us to patiently wait for our efforts to reach
fruition because all good things take time to materialize.
Self-belief: The poet asks us to not lose faith in our belief and
conviction even if the ones around us begin to lose hope in us.
Risk-taking: The poem showcases life as a gamble in which all our
achievements might get washed away. The poet wants us to be
willing to take that risk in life as it will bring us closer to our final goal
in life or the main prize.
Persistence: The ‘never-give-up’ outlook towards life is one major
theme of the poem. The poet asks us to keep striving towards our
goals, against all odds, even if it involves putting all of our life’s
achievements at stake. Shall we lose all we have while trying to get
ahead in life, we must not back down but muster enough will-power
and determination to start again from scratch.
Time Management: The unforgiving nature of Time comes out in the
last stanza of the poem. The poet stresses upon the fact that Time
when lost never comes back so one must give every second of our
waking minutes all we have to make the most of it.

Q. Justify the title ‘If’ for Rudyard Kipling’s poem.

Ans. The title of the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling is the apt one for
the following reasons:
1.The title suggests that there is something conditional in this poem.
According to the poet, if we have to achieve something bigger, we
have got to possess the virtues like truthfulness, calmness of mind,
mental strength, self-belief, thoughtfulness, indifference to success
and failure, time sense and so on. Dealing in lies, showing hatred to
others, being arrogant breaking down on occasional setbacks are not
the ways to go.
The poet sets the goal for us in the last lines:
“Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And what is more you’ll be a Man, my Son!”
And throughout the poem, he talks about this conditional fulfillment,
which a man has to fulfill if he has to achieve the goals.
2. Structure of the poem.
The poem is written in one conditional sentence where the poet talks
about the virtues first and about the outcomes at the end. It deals
with the human qualities and character traits that we need to
develop to succeed in life, and more so to be a good human being. In
the process, he has ended up in writing a number of conditional
clauses beginning with ‘if’. This structure is actually symbolic in
suggesting that we get the rewards only after we fulfill the
preconditions. Moreover, this makes the readers eager to know what
would happen if and when we meet all these conditions, thus
retaining the curiosity and interest till the end.
3.The main theme of the poem is a combination of so many ifs.
4.The poem contains the virtues given by Rudyard Kipling; these are
the moral guidelines a person should follow to lead a good and
successful life. These are not compulsory for a man to follow.