A correspondent raises a close comparison with the Polonius speech in
Hamlet and IF. What do others think?
Dear Dr. Lewins,
A friend recently called my attention to Kipling's poem "If--". I was reminded
by it of Shakespeare's famous parody of fatherly advice by Polonius to his son
Laertes (attached below.) I'm wondering what was the context of Kipling's
writing this poem. Was he dead serious, or did he write this with a certain
sense of irony and tongue in cheek?
In exploring the web, I stumbled on the Kipling Society and wondered whether you
or one of its members might have some information or an opinion about this.
-- Martin
___________________________________________________________
Prof. Martin B. Einhorn Office: (734) 763-5270
University of Michigan FAX: (734) 763-2213
Randall Lab. of Physics
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120 Internet: [log in to unmask]
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There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
Hamlet | Act 1, Scene 3
The comparison with Hamlet is so close in places that I wonder whether
others haven't commented on it. In the case of Shakespeare, he certainly
is mocking those words of wisdom proffered by Polonius. (Many are those
who recite its lines without realizing this! My father, for instance, was
fond of saying in all seriousness "neither a borrower nor a lender be.")
The best that could be said of Polonius's speech is "Do as I say, not as I
do."
No one short of a saint could possibly measure up to Kipling's advice.
That fits well into Christian, Anglo-Saxon notions of human failings and
mankind possessed of sins that must be cleansed. I just read the Nobel
Prize presentation which contains this: "If Kipling is an idealist from an
aesthetic point of view by reason of poetical intuition, he is so, too,
from an ethical-religious standpoint by virtue of his sense of duty, which
has its inspiration in a faith firmly rooted in conviction....For Kipling,
God is first and foremost Almighty Providence...." In modern parlance,
the father is laying a "guilt trip" on his son. However, I accept your
statement that Kipling was very likely not cynical and believed in his
words. It fits what I know of British culture and history and the times
in which he wrote as well."
from Dr Jeffery Lewins,
Kipling Fellow, Magdalene College
& Engineering Department,
University of Cambridge
(UK) 01223 276285
facs 363637
CB3 0AG UK [log in to unmask]
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