If- Flashcards
Repetition of words derived from the same root
Polyptoton
Example - hated, hating
Repetition of if
Forms a repeated refrain throughout
The entire poem is a single sentence made up of conditional statements
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs
Idiom - adds immediacy and an intimacy of tone, informal
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
First line - idea that self belief will help to meet life’s challenges
Second line - encourages both introspectiveness, and empathy
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,
Listing, polyptoton - adds emphasis to the idea of being aware of nuance and an ideology of moderation
Emphasises honesty, patience and compassion
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
Emphasises importance of being humble (repeats idea of modesty in two different ways)
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
Polyptoton (think, thoughts) - emphasises the message
Personification of dreams - also adds emphasis to idea of not letting others control you
Overall message is not to be consumed by ambition
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
Personification - emphasises the importance of being rational in the face of success or failure
(If you can bear to hear your words) twisted by knaves
Knave = dishonest person
Acknowledges that there are dishonest people who will try and hurt others, but emphasises self belief, calmness and rationality
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools.
Metaphor - shows two things:
- creates an image of rebuilding what keeps being broken, with the same tools each time, suggests setbacks are normal and one must persevere despite the challenges
- (“stoops”) creates an image of a person prepared to humble themself by bending down and rebuilding
(If you can take everything) and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss
Must be willing to take risks
Pitch-and-toss = a gambling game based completely on luck and flipping coins
And lose, and start again at your beginning
And never breathe a word about your loss;
Same image of starting from scratch - failure is an inevitable part of life, have to rebuild
Also should move on, not fixate on the loss - must be able to risk it all AND deal with the outcome whilst remaining stoic
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone
Qualities necessary for strength and self belief
Heart = emotional strength
Nerve = bravery
Sinew = physical strength
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
Repetition of “hold on”, exclamatory sentence - emphasises importance of perseverance and resilience
“Will” - capitalised - suggests this characteristic is separate from the others (will refers to one’s ability to control emotions/actions and thus could represent the power of the human mind, a lot of this philosophy can be simplified down to mind over matter)
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch
Importance of being able to converse with different people without being corrupted by their beliefs or social status
Crowds - talk to masses without losing morals
Kings - talk to kings/people in power and stay humble
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
Can’t become too emotionally attached to people as it will leave you vulnerable to pain
This is the only part that doesn’t quite align with most contemporary ideas and morals
Perhaps he felt he was too close to his son (who died) and it hurt him
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run
Carpe diem mentality
“Unforgiving” - doesn’t slow down for anyone, everyone has the same time in a day, make the most of yours
“Distance run” - emphasis on moving forward and excelling
You’ll be a Man, my son!
Reveals poem is addressed to his (dead) son
Goal in life is to be a man, not to be wealthy, powerful, successful
Capitalisation of “Man” - suggests not every man can achieve this level of masculinity, which one can achieve by having all of the qualities in the poem
Structure
8 line stanzas - creates a regular rhythm - idea that one should aspire to have a life that is regular and controlled (as the poem describes the life you should want)
Themes
Stoicism/endurance - repeated conditional statements, conclusion at the end - reflects the reward of being stoic and undergoing trials to reach the conclusion (and become a Man)
Self control - polyptoton reinforces idea of self control (e.g. can be hated but shouldn’t give in to hating)
Balance - masculine and feminine rhymes are used throughout
Masculine vs feminine rhymes
Masculine rhyme - one syllable (aim/same)
Feminine rhyme - two syllables rhyme, last one is unstressed (e.g. master/disaster)
