IF by Rudyard Kipling

IF by Rudyard Kipling is a poem, like many well crafted poems, that with few, words well placed and connected, convey much with little.

It is a poem of the vagaries of life, the ups and down, the need for perseverance, balance and that hardship well endured, results in a person of character.

Reading the poem recently, in conjunction with the Six Honest Men from Rudyard Kipling’s “The Elephant Child,” I came across a reference to a line from the poem being written on the wall of the centre court players' entrance at the All-England Club, Wimbledon.

The poem's line at Wimbledon is: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same"

To be honest, I can’t remember if I have ever seen the inscription of the poem on the Wimbledon broadcasts. If I had, then I have simply forgotten.

Having watched Wimbledon tournaments since my early years, I ventured to Google more information on this line from Kipling’s poem.

And as luck would have it, I came across two videos of note.

One is a reading of the Poem by the British broadcaster, Des Lynam, OBE, with an interesting animation of the words as they are being recited.

The other is an interesting reading of the poem by two Wimbledon greats of recent times, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

With this sporting reference and perspective of the poem, it brought a fresh paradigm to further readings of the poem.

I trust the words of the poem whether read or listened to, will challenge you to greater things in life as they have for mine.

IF by Rudyard Kipling – The Poem and two Videos

The Poem - IF by Rudyard Kipling

Video Of The Poem - George Horne's Typographic Animation of IF read By Des Lynam.

Video of Rudyard Kipling's Poem ''IF'' Read By Federer & Nadal

IF by Rudyard Kipling
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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;

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 imposters 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;

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 breath 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";

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!

Video Of The Poem IF by Rudyard Kipling - George Horne's Typographic Animation - read By Des Lynam.
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George Horne's Typographic Animation of IF read By Des Lynam is a great little production, both visually and acoustically.

Video of IF by Rudyard Kipling Read By Federer & Nadal
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This is an interesting reading of the poem by two Wimbledon greats of recent times, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Lance Scoular,
"The Savvy Navigator"