IF

!!!

★ Rudyard Kipling · 1910 ★

Listen carefully and fill in the missing words.

    Verse 1
If you can keep your (1) when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can (2) yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by (3),
    Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being (4), don't give way to hating,
    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

Verse 2
If you can (5)—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with (6) and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the (7) you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your (8) to, broken,
    And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

Verse 3
If you can make one heap of all your (9)
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never (10) a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and (11)
    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!'

Verse 4
If you can talk with crowds and keep your (12),
    Or walk with (13)—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 (14) 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 success, my child!
  

If

Rudyard Kipling · 1910

Song Worksheets

Add the Adjective

Add a suitable adjective to describe each noun from the poem. Think about the mood and message of the song.

1. head →

2. dream →

3. truth →

4. tools →

5. touch →

6. minute →

7. will →

Finish the Lyric

Complete each line creatively. Try to match the rhythm and message of the poem.

1. If you can smile when everything goes wrong, and still find strength to...

2. If you can speak with honesty and never let your courage...

3. If you can lose and still hold out your hand, and start again from...

4. If you can lead without the need for praise, and walk alone through...

5. Yours is the world, and all the strength within it, if you can fill each...

Did you know?

Read these facts about the song. Which one surprises you most?

🎵Rudyard Kipling wrote 'If' in 1895 but it was first published in 1910 as part of a collection called Rewards and Fairies. The poem was inspired by Leander Starr Jameson, a British colonial administrator who led a failed raid in South Africa and faced the consequences with dignity.
⭐In a 1995 BBC poll, 'If' was voted the United Kingdom's favourite poem. It has remained one of the most quoted poems in the English language for over a century, beloved for its timeless advice on character, resilience, and quiet leadership.
🎸The poem is written in the form of a father's advice to his son. Kipling addressed it to his own son John, who later died in World War One at the Battle of Loos in 1915 at just 18 years old — a tragedy that haunted Kipling for the rest of his life.
📀A famous quotation from the poem — 'If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same' — is inscribed above the players' entrance at Wimbledon's Centre Court, where tennis players read it before walking out to compete.
🎤Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India in 1865 and is also famous for writing The Jungle Book. In 1907 he became the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, receiving it for his powerful storytelling and originality of imagination.

Discussion & analysis

Discuss each question with your partner.

1Kipling lists many qualities of an ideal person — which one quality do you think is the hardest to achieve, and why?
2The poem says we should treat 'Triumph and Disaster' exactly the same. Do you think this is good advice for a leader? Why or why not?

3Think of a time when you had to stay calm under pressure. How did you manage it? Would Kipling be proud of how you handled it?
4Is it possible — or even desirable — to be the perfect person Kipling describes? Could someone like that ever truly connect with others?

🥁 Play It! — Tap the Beat

A student taps the rhythm of a song on the desk — or hums the melody. No words. Class tries to identify the song. First correct guess wins a point for their team.