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Ifâ  is a poem by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling, written in 1895 and first published in Rewards and Fairies, 1910. It is a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson. The poem is written in the form of paternal advice to the poet's son, John. As poetry, Ifâ is a literary example of Victorian-era stoicism. John was killed at the Battle of Loos in 1915.
Speaker/ToneThe poem is written by Rudyard Kipling, who was a well-known author around the turn of the century. He was a pro-Imperialist writer and a prestigious college graduate who had won many awards, including the Nobel Prize for writing. This tells us, the readers, that he is a very credible writer. Knowing he is pro-Imperialist is perhaps the greatest piece for understanding the poem because without knowing his stance on Imperialism, we may think that he is criticizing the United States.