On reading Kipling's 'If'

by

Francis Duggan

You know the famous poem of Rudyard Kipling
He called it 'If' for it quite an apt name
Those lines to set example often quoted
And to this day 'If' has a world wide fame.

He wrote 'If' for his son John when John was still a schoolboy
To be a man the sacrifice to make
But when I judge myself on words of Kipling
I feel that I don't have what it might take.

For I am one who moans about his losses
And I'd love to be a winner all the way
And though I will re-start at the beginning
I hate myself for mistakes when I pay.

I'm not what you might call a sporting loser
One don't go in a contest to be beat
The winner takes the accolades and glory
It's so hard to be gracious in defeat.

You expected much of us males Mr Kipling
Of your high standards some can only dream
To become the man you wrote about in your poem
One would need high principles and self esteem.

You know 'If' the famous poem of Rudyard Kipling
To be a man such sacrifice to make
For true manhood he set the highest order
And I feel I don't have what it might take.

NEXT?
Why don't you look at John Howard's unofficial address to the people of Australia
by: Francis Duggan
from: Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia

To visit all of Francis Duggan's poems, click HERE

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