“If”
By: Rudyard Kipling
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 impostors 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 all 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!
Be a Man. Read a Poem.
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Ty Karnitz.
Poetry
Today, poetry seems to be the antithesis of manly.
But it wasn’t always so. Poetry has been written and read by men for generations, reaching
back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks, Sumerians, and even to the ancient oral
traditions. Poetry used to be read and recited around a fireplace or in a cafe as a form of
entertainment. And Theodore Roosevelt, an epitome of manliness, loved poetry, and as
president gave government jobs to poets on the condition they do nothing but write new
poems.
In the past, poetry was part of a gentleman’s formal education. Today, we’re taught poetry in
school, but because it’s forced on us we reject it. We claim poetry is not for us men because
poetry is emotional, and as men, we’re told from a very young age that emotions are not for
us. Because of this, poetry can be difficult to approach for the modern man.
Somewhere in the past century, our society has changed. Television, it seems, has taken
poetry’s place. We as a society no longer need a bard to recite lyrics to us to keep us
entertained. We have television and movies, and when we want to read there are always
novels and short stories, or magazines or newspapers. So poetry has lost its place in the world
and because of that, we’ve forgotten about it. But maybe the gentlemen of the past knew
something we don’t. Maybe they read poetry not only because they didn’t have television but
also because it did something for them, because poetry isn’t only about flowers and rainbows.
Poetry is about war, friendship, nature, spirituality, and everything a boy needs to know about
being a well-rounded man.
What Poetry Can Do For You
Or Why Should I Read This Stuff?
By engaging in poetry, then, what you’re doing is educating yourself about the traditions of
the men that came before. Reading it will help the modern man see connections to the past in
our present culture.
Poetry can also be a great story, and you don’t have to read an epic poem that is hundreds of
pages long to find one with an engaging tale.
Poetry hasn’t gotten the stigma of love attached to it for nothing. Love abounds in poetry—if
romance had a language, poetry would be it. Everywhere you look you can find examples of
men who’ve used poetry to woo a pretty lady. In movies and on sitcoms we see men use
clichéd poetry to win the heart of a lady. Unfortunately, in the real world, using clichéd poetry
doesn’t always work. Today’s woman wants more, and if you can show her that you took the
time to write your own poem, one that doesn’t go something like “Roses are red, violets are
blue, and I love you…” you just might win her heart. Or perhaps you could find a love poem
that speaks to you that not everyone knows and share it with her.
Poets to Try
Obviously you should read whatever type of poetry interests you. If you’re interested in epics
from the past you can read The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Illiad, The Aenied, or Paradise Lost.
Some poets to try are:
The Usual: Homer, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Rudyard Kipling,
Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, William Blake, Alexander Pope, Robert Frost
Some Others: W.S. Merwin, Billy Collins, Bill Watterson, Shel Silverstein
.