If-, by Rudyard Kipling. 10 GCSE exam essay quotes, fully analysed for language, structure and form. There’s even a line-by-line translation and more! – perfect for your GCSE exam or essay!
Congratulations! You hit the GCSE analysis jackpot! Keep reading… here’s everything you need to smash your GCSE or iGCSE English Literature exam…
What is the poem about?
The narrator gives advice about life to his son.
What is the purpose?
Rudyard Kipling does two things. He reveals that life will be challenging and then offers, what he thinks is, the best way to deal with them. Alert readers will be able to pick out values or rules to live by hidden in his words. (You can read them further below).
What is Rudyard Kipling’s main message?
There are lots of ideas in ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling but the main message or moral lesson appears to be that society should act in a logical, determined but respectful way if they want to be successful.
If- by Rudyard Kipling: line-by-line GCSE translation.
Click on the arrow under each poem stanza to reveal the translation. Each matching line is numbered to help you.
TIP: try to work out how and why the translation is connected to the original line. Notice what words have been swapped. This will help you in the future when you have to understand unseen poems in your GCSE exam.
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:
Stanza 1 Translation
- Remain calm when everyone else
- Is panicking and holding you accountable,
- Be brave when nobody believes in you,
- But understand their scepticism is fear – it’s not personal;
- Be truly patient (not just because you have to be),
- When others lie about you, don’t also become a liar
- When you’re hated, do not hate back
- Never act as if you are better than others – stay humble:
- 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:
Click For Stanza 2 Translation
- Be ambitious but remember to have a life too;
- It’s good to think but also act to make your thoughts a reality;
- Don’t become too emotional about successes and failures
- Understand they are both opportunities to learn and grow;
- Stay calm when your words
- Are twisted to get a reaction out of you or others,
- Be prepared if you ever lose your life’s work
- Do anything to get it back even if you lack the correct resources:
- 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!’
Click For Stanza 3 Translation
- Be prepared to place everything you value
- at risk for something more important
- If you lose, be humble and calm enough to do it all again
- and never look back, moan or complain;
- Keep going after your determination, confidence, and strength
- Have vanished,
- Even when you think you are beaten
- Keep a voice inside you that will never give up!
- 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!
Click For Stanza 4 Translation
- Gain influence and power over people but stay honest,
- Relate to people at all social levels,
- Recognise that both enemies and friends can hurt you,
- Learn to trust people but never too much;
- Give maximum effort in difficult moments
- But think about everything you do (never frantic panic)
- If you can do all these thing then you can achieve great things
- And–more importantly–you’ll be a great human being!
Grade 9 GCSE Language Analysis Paragraph Example
Here’s the final quote from our quotes table below written up as a short paragraph to show you how amazing your answers could be with the right help.
How Does Rudyard use language in the poem If-?
Example Exam or Essay Paragraph
In, “fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,” Kipling’s use of the personification “unforgiving” presents time and experiences in life as a punishing force that individuals must overcome. Whereas “minute… sixty seconds” symbolise man made units of time and could represent a specific challenging moment in a person’s life. Rather than panic and let the gruelling experience flash by and overwhelm them, the poet suggests readers give full focus and effort in every ‘second.’ The metaphor “distance run” – as opposed to frantic sprinting – suggests readers should give maximum effort in a controlled and carefully thought out way and not as a mad dash.
Right, now it’s time for you to get your hands on all those beautiful GCSE quotes…
LANGUAGE QUOTES about the poem If- by Rudyard Kipling.
| EVDENCE | ANALYSIS |
| keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you | Idiom: “keep your head” – values the skill keeping control of one’s thoughts. Juxtaposition: “keep…losing” – exaggerates the difference between staying calm and panicking. Emotive language/ direct address: “blaming… you ” – the poet creates the most difficult scenario in which to stay calm. He wants readers to stand out and avoid being swept up in panic and instead be a leader and a role model that could help calm others. |
| meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same | Capital letter / personification: “triumph and disaster… imposters” – presents both as forces that want deceive people into either becoming too excited by successes and upset about failures. Kipling suggests they are both opportunities to learn and improve. |
| stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools | Emotive language / metaphor: “stoop” – be prepared to lower your status, be humble. Metaphor: “build” – the hard work of restoring your life brick by brick. Metaphor: “worn-out tools” – symbolises that not having the right resources or difficulties should not stop you. |
| force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn | Triplet of Metaphors: “heart… nerve…sinew” – imply to be brave (heart), calm (nerve) and mentally strong (sinew). Personification: “To serve your turn” – take control and become the master of these emotions and qualities especially when the body has physically given up. |
| walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch | Metaphor: “Walk with kings” – Gain the respect of powerful people. Idiom: “Common touch” – Be thankful for your background and never forget how to communicate with and relate to normal people or the vulnerable in society. Juxtaposition: “Kings…common” – exaggerates the differences between both sets of people and emphasises how being able to relate to the whole of society is important for success. |
| Fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run | Personification: “Unforgiving” – presents time and experiences in life as a punishing force that individuals must overcome. Symbolism: “minute… sixty seconds”- man made units of time that represent a specific moment in a person’s life. Rather than panic and let the gruelling experience flash by and overwhelm them, the poet suggests readers give full focus and effort in every ‘second.’ Metaphor: “Distance run” – as opposed to frantic sprinting -readers should give maximum effort in a controlled and carefully though out way not a mad dash. |
If you want to learn more about analysing LANGUAGE, visit our incredible GCSE English Language Analysis | EASY Grade 9 Guide
STRUCTURE QUOTES about the poem If- by Rudyard Kipling.
| If you can | Repetition / conditional verb “If”– Rudyard Kipling repeats this 12 times in the title and poem to emphasise that being a ‘man’ (an accomplished adult) is conditional on mastering these qualities. It also underlines the difficulty of success by allowing the writer to present life as a list of relentless hurdles of life that readers must overcome. Direct address “you” extends the message of the poem personally to all readers. |
| Yours is the Earth… you’ll be a Man… | Idiom “Yours is the Earth” – Rudyard Kipling implies the world and all of its possibilities for success will be “yours” to take. Metaphor/ Capital Letter “Man” – the poet’s concept (marked by the Capital ‘M’) of maturity and success – a person that acts in a logical, determined but respectful way. Symbolism “Man” – From a modern perspective, it could symbolise the qualities of a modern logically minded and compassionate adult. Structurally: these final two lines ends the single sentence of the poem and provides a conclusion to the intrigue that is created throughout the poem by the repeated statement “if you can.” |
| The poem is a single sentence stretched across four stanzas of eight lines each. | Rudyard Kipling’s use of consistent stanza lengths symbolises the solidity of the advice and consistency of the behaviour required to succeed. |
| Regular rhyme scheme. | ABABCDCD – The poet’s rhyme scheme has a sense of a powerful (left, right, left, right) march through the challenges of life towards success. |
| Iambic pentameter. | Kipling chooses this regular meter and rhyme scheme which has five sets of unstressed/stressed syllables per line to also reinforce the sense of consistency and solid advice. |
If you want to learn more about analysing STRUCTURE, visit our incredible GCSE English Structure Analysis | EASY Grade 9 Guide
A FORM QUOTE for If- by Rudyard Kipling.
| If by Rudyard Kipling is a didactic poem. | A didactic poem is poetry with a purpose to instruct or educate the reader with some sort of moral, ethical, or practical lesson. |
Need to learn about analysing Form? Visit our incredible GCSE English Form Analysis | EASY Beginner’s Grade 9 Guide.
Now, back to this guide…
CONTEXT and Grade 9 ‘GOLD IDEAS’ in If- by Rudyard Kipling.
| Early twentieth century British male stereotype. | Kipling promotes a very British form of a well rounded male stereotype. He wrote “If—” during the early twentieth century, a time when British society and it’s people preferred to keep their emotions under control and hidden. In the 200 years before this poem, the British built an Empire that spread across the world because they claimed it was their mission to ‘civilise’ the world. They believed that emotions were a sign of savagery and that only animals and the uncivilised acted without thinking. They believed their imperial success was built on hard work. Therefore British men were expected to work hard and remain dignified (by keeping their emotions under control). |
| Stoicism | The poem can also be viewed as presenting the values of Stoicism which is a way of thinking that promotes staying calm and making good choices, even in difficult situations. It emphasises focusing on what can be controlled, being brave, and always doing the right thing. Kipling and British society of this period were heavily influenced stoic thinking. |
| Life is difficult | Kipling presents life as a series of challenges that an individual must overcome with hard work and dignity if they are too mature into a responsible adult. |
What lessons does If- by Rudyard Kipling teach society?
If- by Rudyard Kipling is packed full of advice about how to live. Practically all of these lessons still apply today which is why it’s such a great poem! Here is a list of of the life lessons along with the quote that suggest them.
| Kipling’s Rules for Life | Quotes from the poem If- |
| Remain calm in the worst circumstances. | keep your head |
| Be confident in yourself even when people pressure you. | all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you |
| Understand when people are scared they will blame and doubt you. | all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you |
| Be genuinely patient not just because you think it is a good idea. | wait and not be tired by waiting |
| Never lie even if others lie about you. | being lied about, don’t deal in lies |
| Don’t hate people even if they hate you. | being hated, don’t give way to hating |
| Stay humble, never show off and make others feel inferior. | don’t look too good, nor talk too wise |
| Have dreams but remember you can change them if needed. | dream—and not make dreams your master |
| Be ambitious and creative but remember to take action as well. | think—and not make thoughts your aim |
| Understand that successes and failures are never as good or as bad as they seem. | Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same |
| Both are successes and failures opportunities to learn. | Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same |
| Realise that your words can be used against you – only fools react without thinking. | hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools |
| Never stop trying, even if it seems impossible. | Stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools |
| Be prepared to risk everything if it’s important to you. | make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn |
| Never complain about misfortune. | never breathe a word about your loss |
| If you can stay incorruptible when others look to you for leadership. | talk with crowds and keep your virtue |
| If you influence society make sure you stay morally good. | walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch |
| Be able to relate to everyone from the most powerful to the most vulnerable. | walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch |
| Protect yourself from people – remember even loving friends can hurt you! | neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you |
| You cannot love and care for people if you don’t look after yourself. | all men count with you, but none too much |
| Give the maximum amount of effort in difficult times but don’t panic. | fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run |
Possible GCSE English Literature Exam Questions
In each case below, don’t forget to explore language (techniques and keywords), structure and form to create a dramatic image. Some exam boards may require you to discuss context too (see our notes above) – make sure you check with your teacher or on the examination board website in the specification.
| How does Rudyard Kipling present life in the poem If-? | Read between the lines to describe the challenging situations that life might throw at society. |
| How does Rudyard Kipling suggest readers approach life? | In this question you’re expected to work out what Rudyard Kipling’s moral lessons for life are. Luckily for you, I’ve laid them all out on the table above… You’re very welcome! |
| How does Rudyard Kipling explore their thoughts and feelings? | This one is a more open question that requires you to explore the various challenges that Rudyard Kipling says exists in life and also how he advises you to tackle them. The ‘feelings’ part of the question requires you to work out what the writer feels about certain things. look at the connotations of keywords to work out his emotions. For example, “trap for fools” impliesRudyard Kipling believes society is full of people that are ready to believe gossip without any proof (sounds a lot like social media in the modern world – right?) |
