Analysis of If and the Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling
             "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!"- If by Rudyard Kipling
             Rudyard Kipling's works are characterized allusions to exotic culture and ancient legends and characters. Yet it is his commentary on the nature of the certain unchanging, universal, traits of humans that he is praised for. His brilliant insight on man is best seen in his poems If and the Thousandth Man.
             If, a poem that has inspired many essentially defines what it is to be a man. It illustrates all of the responsibilities and qualities that come along with manhood. Discussing the hardships one must overcome and all of the good times that one must overcome as well is one of this poems most striking qualities. What is meant by that statement is that when in good company you must also stay grounded. Rudyard Kipling talks about this when he says "If you can walk with kings and keep the common touch..."
             Through examination of this poem some observations were recorded, and they are as follows. The poem is divided by stanzas in sets of eight lines. The rhyme scheme of this poem isn't well defined throughout its entirety. Rather, it has an AAAABABA pattern in the first stanza but then follows an ABABABAB pattern in the rest of the stanzas. Yet when looked upon in a sort of retrospect it's a consistent rhyme scheme. While analysis of rhyme is definite narration is not. It can be viewed in two ways. Either the author is giving advice to his reader and at the end referring to his reader as his son, or a more literal analysis could be considered as the poem is the dialogue of a father giving advice to his son. There seems to be no storyline nor was it based upon a feeling of an experience. Instead, it was a collection of ...