Question by iSAAC’S MOMMY 🙂: What is the action in the stanza? What is the author trying to say?
please help! i have to put the following in my own words (it’s part of a poem) i just never understood these things. easy 10 points!

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turnoff 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 in sinew
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: Hold on!

Best answer:

Answer by Jane
this poem was written by Kipling because he was inspired by George Washington who was a true leader. He wanted his son to be just like him, a leader , or at least a Man. He dedicated this poem to his son that’s why in the last line he writes “You’ll be a Man, my son!”. In this poem he points out all the qualities of a leader.

This is thoughtful and didactic poem. This poem takes us through many situations of life and how we should deal with them. The first Stanza talks about our self-confidence. It says we should believe in ourselves when we our doubted. We should also consider the doubting as there may be a fault in us. We should not give into lies when we are being lied about or hate those who hate us. We should be humble at the same time we must not look too good or wise.

The second Stanza is about the fact that we should be as we our and not let thoughts master our mind. we should not let our dreams interfere with reality. We should take Success and Failure as the same as the aim of both of them is to change our life. Success can make over-confidence and other related feelings get into our head whereas defeat while lower our morale and confidence we may not want do something again. Further it says one should not give into the traps set up for fools by cunning people. We should not give into hopelessness when our dream world breaks. Instead we should bend down use the remainder and the worn out tools to start once again.

The third stanza conveys that if one has collected all their experience, money, wisdom, etc. and have risked it all on one worthwhile adventure and we lose we should not say anything about our loss and should instead go on and start from the beginning to gain back all that we have lost. If our physical and mental strength is exhausted then we should just hold-on and should not lose our will power. When there is nothing inside a person they should just hold on to courage, will,-power, confidence as these our the things which will provide us support.

The third Stanza says that one should not lose their virtue while interacting with the common crowds. Whereas at the same time should keep their state of mind and coolness when interacting with great people like Kings. We must not be affected by the love of friends and hatred of enemies. We must not give somebody extra attention nor should we ignore anybody. If one could fill every minute of our life with a worth wile activity.
If a person has all these virtues then he/she is the true master of the Earth and will become a man/woman in the actual sense.

In this poem the poet means to give advice to his son, when people blame someone without any reason, don’t lose hope, be hopeful. No doubt “If” inspires one even if one is an adult. The high standard set for manhood or maturity is too hard to achieve. It is pretty simple language used; a new world opens before one striving for perfection. It gives a simle guideline to follow; and concise too. I however wonder what he mean by saying ‘unfogiving minute’ and how the ‘unfogiving minute’ can be filled with ‘sixty seconds of distance run’.

According to Kipling in his autobiography ?Something of Myself?, posthumously published in 1937, the poem was inspired by Dr Leander Starr Jameson, who in 1895 led a raid by British forces against the Boers in South Africa, subsequently called the Jameson Raid. This defeat increased the tensions that ultimately led to the Second Boer War. The British press, however, portrayed Jameson as a hero in the middle of the disaster, and the actual defeat as a British victory.

The message of ?If,? although it may sound generic, is an inspirational one? it is a message of perseverance and determination. Throughout the poem, situations are described that all relate to the theme of self-belief and perseverance. The first line of the first stanza reads, ?If you can keep your head when all about you/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.? This line fundamentally sums up the entire message of the poem. Believe in yourself and never capitulate to those around you. Second, the message also is not just standing firm and never budging, but doing so while all odds are against you and all circumstances point to stoppage and letdown, as well as having self-confidence and belief in one?s abilities. The first two lines of the second stanza read, ?If you can dream – and not make dreams your master; /If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim,? imply a nimbleness in one?s resolve and fortitude; that is to say, standing firm whilst keeping a goal in mind, and not allowing one?s self to get distracted. Next, the first four lines of the third stanza read, ?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,? suggesting that willpower and determination are a stipulation even after fiasco or a loss. Even when all is lost, never cede, but build

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