“It’s not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves”. Or is it? In both poems, ‘Fate’ by Emily Dickinson and ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling, they both agree that we control the path we take in life. In the poem ‘Fate’ it explains a little more on how we control the path we take in life. Despite bearing some minor similarities, the differences between Emily Dickinson ‘Fate’ and Rudyard Kipling ‘If’ are remarkable in how each explains the role of fate in our lives and answer to the question ‘How much of what happens do we control?’.
The poem ‘Fate’ by Emily Dickinson is about fate and a man battling each other. It also informs that no matter how hard the problem/situation is, you should never give up and keep your head up. The quote “Fate slew Him, but He did not drop – She felled – He did not fall” supports the claim on never giving up, because it shows how he did not give up even though he wished that didn’t happen. The quote “She stung Him – sapped His firm advance” quote explains that the world doesn’t revolve around people and not everything will be in our favor. These two points prove how much we control in our lives because it’s up to us to decide if we give up or keep on going.
In the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling, the father is trying to help his son have qualities of being a good man. “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”. This quote shows a quality of a good man, as it explains that the son needs to have patience and not lie, even if someone lies to them. “If you can dream – and not dreams your master”. This quote explains that you should dream, but don’t get too attached in your dreams that you forget about the real world. These two points prove on how much we control in our lives because we can decide if we want to have these good qualities or not, it’s your choice.
In conclusion, ‘Fate’ states more examples on how we control the path we take in our lives. We decide on if we are going to give up or not, depending on what the situation is, to have patience and not lie no matter what, and don’t forget about the real world when dreaming. The importance of fate is that you get to choose your own path in your life, not having someone choose for you. Even though we can’t control everything in our lives, we can’t let that affect us of who we become and who we are now.