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If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same.

Rudyard Kipling, 'If—', 1910

Literature

The story behind the card

'If—' is written as a father's advice to his son: a long chain of conditions that ends, 'you'll be a Man, my son!' Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), the author of The Jungle Book, published it in 1910 in Rewards and Fairies and said it was inspired by Leander Starr Jameson, leader of a failed raid in southern Africa in 1895–96. These two lines are written on the wall of the players' entrance to Centre Court at Wimbledon, and in a BBC poll in the 1990s the poem was voted Britain's favourite.

Türkçe oku
Zaferle de felaketle de karşılaşıp bu iki sahtekâra aynı gözle bakabilirsen.
Rudyard Kipling, “If—”, 1910

“If—”, bir babanın oğluna öğütleri biçiminde yazılmıştır: Art arda sıralanan koşullar, “o zaman adam olursun, oğlum!” sözüyle biter. Orman Kitabı'nın yazarı Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), şiiri 1910'da Rewards and Fairies adlı kitabında yayımladı ve Leander Starr Jameson'dan esinlendiğini anlattı; Jameson, 1895–1896'da Güney Afrika'da başarısız bir baskına önderlik etmişti. Bu iki dize, Wimbledon'daki Centre Court'ta oyuncuların sahaya çıktığı kapının duvarında yazılıdır. 1990'larda BBC'nin yaptığı bir oylamada şiir, Britanya'nın en sevilen şiiri seçildi. Türkçeye Bülent Ecevit “Adam Olmak” adıyla çevirdi.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: If—
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