If__ .... and Thanksgiving ... and Nano ....

IF... that poem “If __” by Rudyard Kipling, which commences with the lines:

“If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you ...”

Glenridding, Ullswater - The Lake District
William Wordsworth and Daffodils

... just seems so appropriate for a number of reasons .... it’s Thanksgiving ... many of you are doing NaNoWriMo, the Saturday Times produced a supplement setting out 30 classic poems, and I’ve been having challenges with my connection or Chrome or ...

IF I have connectivity and can internet link then I hereby wish all my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving – and weekend to follow – and will be over to catch up on my commenting et al ...  

‘Autumn Damask’ ancient rose 

“How do I Love Thee?” 

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

IF friends around the world had not realised – as I had not ... Thanksgiving is on the fourth  Thursday of November.  “Black Friday” comes next – no surprise there .. shopping frenzy day (IF you are not doing NaNoWriMo) – the start of Christmas shopping in the States .. the stores open very early 4.00a.m. ...  but it is also “Buy Nothing Day” – an international day of protest again consumerism;

... finally comes “Cyber Monday”  (first coined in 2005) when the retailers persuade people to shop on line – discounts and online promotions abound .... IF you can avoid the clouds of ads that will smother you – you’ll be a wealthier person.

A William Blake original of 

The Tyger, printed 1795

By the way – Happy Thanksgiving time everyone - with family and friends ... enjoy yourselves.  I have The World Atlas of Food – whereby it says that originally Thanksgiving was the Pilgrims’ ceremony of gratitude for survival in their new and bounteous land. 

Those first Thanksgiving dinners would have been even more elaborate including roast duck and geese, lobsters and eel pie, as well as mounds of venison provided by friendly Indians – together with the traditional fare you anticipate today: succulent roast turkey, chestnut stuffing, served with roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, Brussels sprouts, squash, succotash, creamed onions and cranberry sauce and topped off with pumpkin pie.  How do you do it?

IF you can keep your head on and remain creative for the month ... you are almost certainly participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) the annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel during November (annually, IF you so wish!).

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Good Luck to those finishing NaNoWriMo after Cyber Monday has gone by – IF you move to Scotland you could have a public holiday on St Andrews Day – 30 November.

iF Poems is an iPhone or iPad app created by the actress and writer Allie Esiri and the former Times journalist Rachel Kelly, it includes hundreds of poems searchable by theme, poet or age category and features recordings by Helena Bonham Carter and Bill Nighy et al.

Edward Lear’s illustration of 

the Owl and the Pussycat

It is being used as a promotional tool by The Times for the Young Poet Competition.  As well as listening to the star actors’ recitals, children or parents can record themselves and then e-mail the recording to a friend.  A donation of 10% of all proceeds from the app will go to Save the Children.

The app features everything from Shakespeare sonnets to Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussycat and classics from Byron, Keats and Shelley.  Old favourites by Burns, William Blake, Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Grahame and Walt Whitman ... to name a few others.

To Autumn -
by John Keats

You can search or browse by categories such as “IF you are facing grief” or “IF you need courage” as well as suitability for three age groups: 0-6, 7-12 and 13+. 

They’ve made the app educational and have included extra resources, such as a dictionary of poetic terms and mini-biographies of the poets; while the app has been illustrated by Natasha Law, whose work has featured in Vogue.

(Mr Toad smoking and reading a map)
The Song of Mr Toad

Bonham Carter, who is an ambassador for Save the Children said:  “There is little that is as deeply satisfying as the apt poem.   


It’s like chocolate for the soul, except less fattening.  It resolves the nervous system, captures the elusive experience of being alive so we may always have it and never lose it.

Give your child an appetite for poems and they will never be bored”.  She then added: “With poems in your pocket, you’ll be armed with beauty and food for the soul and you will never be lonely”.

IF you are lacking in NaNoWriMo creativity ...  Rudyard Kipling had a day bed ...

‘I lie there’ he said with a smile, ‘and wait for my daemon to tell me what to do.’ 

‘Daemon?’ 

He shrugged ‘Intuition, Subconscious. Whatever you want to call it.’

‘Can you always hear him?’

‘No,’ he said slowly.  ‘Not always.  But I learned long ago that it’s best to wait until you do .  When your daemon says nothing, he usually means so.”

Lying on his side on the oak day-bed his head propped on his right hand, Kipling spent many hours while he brooded over the work he was busy with.  From time to time he would jump up and go to the desk, write a line or two, make a note or correction, then resume his place on the sofa.  The day-bed was an essential part of the writing process .... how many of us use this today?

Bateman's front entrance

IF ... and the 30 Classic Poems App can be found by searching for “iF Poems App The Times” – interestingly the Hindustan Times picked the Poetry app up – announcing that it is launched by Indian-origin poet: Rudyard Kipling ....

And finally IF I can post this, subject to my connectivity gremlins, enjoy the post, have wonderful scrumptulicious food per Lenny of Lenny's World, and if you love poetry  .. consider the App ... or consider the idea!

Happy Thanksgiving ...

If __ the poem - see Wikipedia

Notes about Kipling's creative space .. his day bed - taken from the National Trust: Bateman's Guide

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories