Question

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 is in it, And-which is more-you’ll be a man, my son !

Answer 1

Explanation : In this concluding stanza the poet advises the young men that they should not lose their virtues in the company of common people. They should not be proud in the company of great people. Their behaviour should be so noble that their friends as well as their enemies should love them. They should use every minute of their time in useful pieces of work. They should always remember that time once lost never returns. So he addresses his son and advises him to develop all these qualities in him. Then he will become the true master of this world and he will be able to fulfil his ambitions. Thus the poet encourages all young men to be real men.