i am doing a writing final on if by rudyard kipling and i was wondering if anyone can help me out with my report because it is crazzzy hard! i have my intro and 1st body paragraph...but i need to know the structure of the poem and the language of it...im lost!!! urgent help please!
2007-05-21 03:58:33 · 2 answers · asked by katie p 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Poetry
use these ideas:
Have you noticed that this poem has only one sentence? Kipling is saying that if you can meet _all_ of his conditions then, and only then can you rule the earth and be a MAN.
In other words there is no way that you are going to make it.
One of the necessities in understanding this poem is knowing its original place in Kipling's work (Kipling in his biography noted with some rancour that this poem had been "anthologized to weariness".)
"If" is one of the bracketing poems to "Brother Squaretoes", a short story in the book "Rewards and Fairies", one of Kipling's two meditations on English history and destiny ("Puck of Pook's Hill" is the other).
The short story is about George Washington and his courage in resisting the temptation to succumb to the will of the mob and his advisers and fight another war with England.
"If" can be seen as a paean to George Washington as the ideal leader. There are also echoes of the Jamison Raid (an aspect that I believe Kipling also acknowledges in his autobiography).
Kipling loathed mob rule and politics and admired virtuous men of action. Naturally this inclination could be abused (which is why so many attack him for his supposed "imperialism") but I think he had a point . . .
One of the necessities in understanding this poem is knowing its original place in Kipling's work (Kipling in his biography noted with some rancour that this poem had been "anthologized to weariness".)
"If" is one of the bracketing poems to "Brother Squaretoes", a short story in the book "Rewards and Fairies", one of Kipling's two meditations on English history and destiny ("Puck of Pook's Hill" is the other).
The short story is about George Washington and his courage in resisting the temptation to succumb to the will of the mob and his advisers and fight another war with England.
"If" can be seen as a paean to George Washington as the ideal leader. There are also echoes of the Jamison Raid (an aspect that I believe Kipling also acknowledges in his autobiography).
Kipling loathed mob rule and politics and admired virtuous men of action. Naturally this inclination could be abused (which is why so many attack him for his supposed "imperialism") but I think he had a point . . .
2007-05-21 04:19:39 · answer #1 · answered by ari-pup 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have the complete works of Kipling, and no I didn't find it terrifying as a child! I hated snakes before I read it after picking up a king snake in our yard and having it bite me over and over. I hated snakes and those dang cobras and that lil dust colored snake all deserved the wrath of the mongoose!
2016-05-18 22:38:18 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋