The best poem ever written

Question

i think this is a contender, what do you think?

'if' by 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 all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath 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!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Answer 1

Yes I do like Kipling but for me its a toss up between Marvell's "to his coy mistress" and W B Yeats " He wishes for the cloth of Heavens"

Answer 2

Wow!!

Answer 3

I love this poem. the Tyger is also a contender :)

Answer 4

A truly great piece of writing. Man I bet he was chuffed when he came up with this one

Answer 5

Lol, when I had to pick my top 5 poems for english years back, I chose this and I still would choose this.

Answer 6

Suzanne takes you down to her place newer the river

You can hear the boats go by

You can spend the night beside her

And you know that shes half crazy

But thats why you want to be there

And she feeds you tea and oranges

That come all the way from china

And just when you mean to tell her

That you have no love to give her

Then she gets you on her wavelength

And she lets the river answer

That youve always been her lover

And you want to travel with her

And you want to travel blind

And you know that she will trust you

For youve touched her perfect body with your mind.

And jesus was a sailor

When he walked upon the water

And he spent a long time watching

From his lonely wooden tower

And when he knew for certain

Only drowning men could see him

He said all men will be sailors then

Until the sea shall free them

But he himself was broken

Long before the sky would open

Forsaken, almost human

He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

And you want to travel with him

And you want to travel blind

And you think maybe youll trust him

For hes touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now suzanne takes you hand

And she leads you to the river

She is wearing rags and feathers

From salvation army counters

And the sun pours down like honey

On our lady of the harbour

And she shows you where to look

Among the garbage and the flowers

There are heroes in the seaweed

There are children in the morning

They are leaning out for love

And they will lean that way forever

While suzanne holds the mirror

And you want to travel with her

And you want to travel blind

And you know that she will trust you

For shes touched your perfect body with her mind.