Cosby says famous Rudyard Kipling poem, 'If,' helps him cope with son's death

Jet, Jan 12, 1998

TV superstar Bill Cosby says he found comfort after the death of his son, Ennis, by reading the famous poem, If, by English author Rudyard Kipling.

Cosby adds, however that he does not like Kipling's views on race found in his other poems, White Man's Burden and Gunga Din.

"Because of Ennis' murder, I found myself dealing with a man I had often argued with," Cosby recently told the Associated Press. "I had many, many arguments with him. That was Rudyard Kipling."

Kipling, who was born in Bombay in 1865, was inspired by his life in colonial India. His poem, White Man's Burden, glorifies the colonization of foreign lands. Another poem, Gunga Din, is about the devotion of an Indian servant to British soldiers who battled in the Punjab.

Cosby had long objected to Kipling, yet he could not help his being drawn to one of his most famous works, If.

"The first paragraph I kept reading. I didn't want to memorize it. I just keep reading it over and over," Cosby said.

The poem begins:

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and 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 of waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal with lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating.

And yet don't look too good, not talk too wise...

Said Cosby, "If was very calming, very calming. Because there were times when you wanted to yell out and just be a nasty person. Reading that paragraph over and over, I was able to suppress it."

On Jan. 16 last year, Cosby learned that his only son, Ennis, 27, had been shot to death in Los Angeles.

At the same time, a woman who claimed to be his daughter demanded millions to remain silent.

Autumn Jackson, 23, was sentenced to 26 months in prison after she was convicted in New York of extortion and other charges. (JET, Dec. 29-Jan. 5).

Cosby noted he still does not like Kipling's views on race relations. "I can toast him (Kipling) for If. But I still got a problem with Gunga Din..."