What Does it Mean to be a Man? „If“ by Rudyard Kipling

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

What is a man?

Men ask themselves this question all the time, starting from puberty.

As luck will have it, so did Rudyard Kipling, and he came up with a pretty good answer.

Watch the classic poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling and my thoughts on it, “What does it Mean to be a Man?”

In this channel, we talk about the great works of poetry, philosophy and literature – even language itself – and find inspiration, motivation, personal development and … well, wisdom.

About Rudyard Kipling:

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936) was born in Bombay, in colonized India, to English parents and sent back to England for a few years to spend his early education in Southsea, Portsmouth, England – which he despised. He was named Rudyard after a lake in England that played a part in his parents’ romance.

With a poor academic record, he was called back to India and given a job at the newspaper Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore.

He took to journalism like a duck to water – he reveled in it and wrote for several publications, where he also began to publish short stories and poems, which became noticed outside India.

His short stories made him world-famous and he returned to England at the age of 24, where he lived most of the rest of his life (and where he wrote his major novels), finally in Sussex, leaving occasionally to travel around the world, making extended trips to America, South Africa and other places.

He married the American Caroline Balestier, who taught him how to use a typewriter, and lived with her until his death.

He opposed and warned of Communism, Fascism and Hitler, and lived to see the rise of Nazi power, but not the beginning of World War II for England. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

His most popular works include The Jungle Book, Just So Stories and Kim, many short stories including The Man Who Would Be King, and his poems Mandalay, Gunga Din, The Gods of the Copybook Headings, and If—.

From early on in his success, he was criticized for his patriotism, for his suspected racism and his support of colonialism, yet other poets and writers praised his abilities and his works continue to be read and loved today.

“THE WISDOM OF 101 FAMOUS POEMS” – the Video Series.

The inspiring poems in the classic American collection “101 Famous Poems” reflect the values of a past era – the era that made America great. In this video series, I record one poem every week and explore what it means to me.

Who are Lothar Rosengarten, Angela Hartung and E.T. Hansen?

The art in this video was created by Angela Hartung, an artist and writer in Berlin. You can see more of her work and contact her at:

Lothar Rosengarten, a musician in Berlin, is our producer and editor; he also composed the opening jingle and performed the score. For more information: www.lothar-rosengarten.de.

For this video, her performed variations on Frederik Rung’s “Albumblad” (public domain).

E. T. Hansen, also know as Grumpy Old Writer, is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction in Berlin.

The image of the poet and the text from which his or her biographical notes were adapted from Wikipedia.

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