My Rough Idea - Ben

Sorry it's taken so long for me to post, but have been busy with finishing projects and working etc. Anyway, basically my idea is to chart the progression of a man's life, basing it on Rudyard Kipling's 'If':

"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!"

There's plenty of ideas in here, a lot that are open to interpretation. The poem also seems to come from a paternal perspective, so the influence of a father figure should be made clear. So, for instance, the start of the poem needs to be the man at a young age, therefore the line:

"If you keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming you"

... could have the boy playing football and letting a goal in, but with his dad's encouragement he gets back in the game and scores, now that's quite a rushed and simple example, but I'm sure you get the idea. The poem layers quite nicely and feels like a journey in itself, with themes of winning, losing, determination, triumph in adversity, etc etc, and these can all be tied in with real-life events.

It's a little rough round the edges, but that's my idea. x