Name: If
Availability: InStock
Author: Christopher Benfey

Key Ideas

Chapter 1 The Poem on Every Wall

Kipling wrote 'If' as a quiet letter to his son, not as a gift to the world. The poem survived Kipling's darkest disgrace because readers separated th…

Chapter 2 Kipling and His Contradictions 🔒

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Chapter 3 A Father's Letter to His Son 🔒

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Chapter 4 When the World Claimed the Poem 🔒

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Chapter 5 The Son Who Never Came Home 🔒

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Chapter 6 Let the Poem Work for You 🔒

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Chapter 7 Words Outlast the People Who Write Them 🔒

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A single poem written by a grieving father became one of

the most quoted pieces of English literature ever.

Christopher Benfey traces how Kipling's 'If' traveled

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If

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