[Minus9Hours]

Well, imho, that poem describes him pretty exactly. That's why he's going to win.

[firewalk]

welcome

[rface]

well - you might as well put the whole poem here...please do

[Minus9Hours]

here is the whole poem
Rudyard Kipling "If"
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 on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe 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!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs" you probably just don't understand the situation. 8^)

[TxBec]

If

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 on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe 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!

[Carolina]

Ping! Worthwhile read.

[The_Victor]

Bump for a great first post.

[DoctorMichael]

This poem always brings tears to my eyes.

Its very powerfull!

[TiaS]

A quote from my diary, dated April 24, 1993 -- "Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing."

Robert Benchley

[EternalHope]

This is a great poem.

[fourdeuce82d]

"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs..."

You've obviously failed to grasp the seriousness of the situation...*grin*

[AnAmericanMother]

And here's a little background on this poem from a long-time Kipling fan. The poem's been "anthologized to weariness", as Kipling said in his autobiography, but it had a specific purpose as originally published. Stand by, this'll take a minute, but it's worth it, and it shows even more clearly why this poem accurately describes President Bush.

Kipling wrote a matched pair of books, Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies, ostensibly for his children but really for adults. They are groups of short stories in a frame - two children (Kipling's son and daughter) accidentally summon up the spirits of Old England and ghosts of the past, who tell their stories. Each story is told by someone who played a role in English history, and shows why what they did was brave and good (or in the case of Queen Elizabeth I, why it was morally doubtful but necessary). Each story is bracketed by poems that point to the moral of the tale. Kipling himself said that the theme of the books was "What else could I have done?" - the sacrifice of personal comfort or even life itself to doing what is right.

"If" was originally a bracketing poem to "Brother Squaretoes", about a half-English, half-French smuggler who finds his way to America shortly after the Revolution. There the new President Washington is beset by a terrible political and moral problem - how to keep the French ambassador (aided by the crooked minister Talleyrand) and the popular mob from forcing him to take action he knows is wrong: going to war again against the British. The smuggler witnesses Washington's moral struggle and ultimate triumph even as he is hooted by the mob and attacked by his own advisers. And that moral triumph is the center of the poem "If".

(sorry . . . didn't mean to lecture. But so many people think lightly of this poem or don't understand it because they don't know why it was written.)

[OldFriend]

Which makes us so blessed.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Thanks. Kipling is my favorite poet. "Hymn of Breaking Strain" is my favorite of his poems.

[The_Reader_David]

In the week following 9/11 I went out and bought a complete collection of Kipling's poetry. So many of the poems seem to fit our times just as well as they fit his.

It's a pity politically correct idiots will ruin any public reading with their screeching against his language. "The White Man's Burden" also seems a propos. Interestingly it was written about the American involvement in the Philippeans after the Spanish-American War, not about the British Empire.