If



If you follow another's advice
will you be a winner or a sacrifice?

If you arrange another's cabal
will you be triumphant or patron of gall?

If you attain another's habit
will you be competent or plainly unfit?

If you perform another's burlesque
will you be artistic or an act grotesque?

If you fulfill another's tactic
will you be genuine or empty rubric?

If you festoon another's fashion
will you be a model or weird specimen?

If you achieve another's routine
will you be virtuous or clearly obscene?

If you practice another's approach
will you be unbounded or let walls encroach?

If you heed what another's said
will you be the wiser or simply mislead?
Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on February 05, 2010

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme AA XX XX BB CC DD EE FF XX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 638
Words 115
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Wallace Dean LaBenne

Professor, therapist, author and poet. more…

All Wallace Dean LaBenne poems | Wallace Dean LaBenne Books

5 fans

Discuss the poem If with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "If" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/74880/if>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    5
    days
    0
    hours
    31
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Which of these famous poems is written in villanelle form?
    A Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
    B The Owl And The Pussycat
    C Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
    D Funeral Blues