Meeting with Triumph and Disaster

Today we are looking at visuals for Rudyard Kipling's poem "If." When my son, age 15, read this poem recently, he looked up afterwards with a "Yes!" expression on his face and said, "You wouldn't just be a man; you'd be a *boss*!"

First up, listening to "If." I'm not sure who this is. Ralph Fiennes?


If by Rudyard Kipling
Calligraphy by Susan Loy

A line from "If"
photo from Academy of American Poets

Pugyard Kipling
by Chet Phillips

If by Rudyard Kipling
Poster by Kunal Sawant

If by Rudyard Kipling
Poster by Sailor Danny

If by Rudyard Kipling
Poster by Stefano Agabio

More:

* "If" illustrated by Effie Pappa
* "If" has its own Facebook page.
* You can get a t-shirt featuring Kipling's mustache.
* Kipling wrote a story that I found thrillingly terrifying as a child. Anyone else remember it?
* David Gilmour: "Kipling was so disgusted by the Nazis and the sight of their flag that he removed the swastika, a Hindu symbol of good luck, from his bookbindings. It had been his trademark for nearly forty years but it was now 'defiled beyond redemption'."