Is 'IF' by Rudyard Kipling the greatest poem ever written?

Question

The last 8 lines are PRICELESS!!!
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with King, 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!!

Answer 1

'Greatest' is too superlative to be applied to any art, really. All titles given like "epic" or "masterpiece" are open to interpretation. The only thing one can know for sure is if they believe it to be the best they've read.

That said, 'IF' is a wonderful description of what a person should strive to be, and what a true man should hold dear--honor, dignity, and virtue. These ever elusive traits were just as rare in Kipling's time as they are today, but nevertheless cherished. Perhaps Kipling's most well-known work, this poem is one of the most inspirational that I have ever read, and still remains one of my personal favorites for the message it carries, if nothing else.

After all, I've always maintained that poetry is nothing if its only words on paper. True poetry has the ability to carry both emotion and ideas to its readers.

Answer 2

It may not be the greatest poem ever written...in fact, there is probably no such thing as "the greatest poem ever written", but it is certainly my favorite poem, and one I've tried to use as a yardstick on how well I measure up. I truly believe that he indeed describes the perfect man in that poem and that the world would be a better place if every man had similar aspirations.

You can probably tell how I feel about the poem, and it's author.

Answer 3

on my own - Edgar Allen Poe From early existence's hour I surely have not been As others have been — I surely have not seen As others observed — i could no longer carry My passions from someone-friendly spring — From a similar source I surely have not taken My sorrow — i could no longer awaken My heart to exhilaration on a similar tone — And all I lov'd — I lov'd on my own — Then — in my early existence — interior the sunrise Of a maximum stormy existence — became drawn From ev'ry intensity of excellent and sick The secret which binds me nevertheless — From the torrent, or the fountain — From the purple cliff of the mountain — From the solar that 'around me roll'd In its autumn tint of gold — From the lightning interior the sky because it bypass'd me flying via — From the thunder, and the typhoon — And the cloud that took the variety (while something of Heaven became blue) Of a demon in my opinion. or: Funeral Blues - W.H. Auden end each and all of the clocks, decrease off the telephone, forestall the canines from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum carry out the coffin, enable the mourners come. enable aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message he's lifeless. placed crepe bows around the white necks of the standard public doves, enable the site visitors policemen placed on black cotton gloves. He became my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday relax, My midday, my night, my communicate, my music; i assumed that love would final continuously: i became incorrect. the celebrities are no longer wanted now; placed out all and sundry, %. up the moon and dismantle the solar, Pour away the sea and sweep up the woods; For no longer something now can ever come to any good.

Answer 4

No, there are many greater poems. My favorite this evening is John Donne's "A Hymn to God the Father" with its repeated puns on the author's name...

"And having done that, Thou hast done ;
I fear no more."

There is no 'best poem,' because each of us has a legitimate personal response to favored poets.

And having said that, I am a great admirer of Kipling, I like "If" a great deal, and your favorite is certainly wonderful for quoting.

Answer 5

Awesome poem, good advice!
I really like Longfellow's A Psalm of Life