What are the poetry techniques in if, and what is the purpose of them?

Many techniques frequently used in traditional poetry are
seen in the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

The poem is
written with a very constant rhyme scheme - the first and third lines of each stanza
rhyme, the second and fourth lines rhyme, the fifth and seventh rhyme, the sixth and
eighth rhyme. The meter of the poem is basically iambic pentameter, with five sets of
two syllables in each line, the second syllable more accented than the first. Lines are
paired with one extra, unaccented syllable added at the end of the first line in each
pair. The rhyme and meter of the poem make it very comfortable to read and easy to
remember due to its predictable pattern.

The content of the
poem is expressed as a whole series of paradoxes. "A paradox is a statement that is
contradictory but that, in its contrariness, makes a point." Kipling presents situations
and one common kind of reaction to those situations, then presents another reaction that
he considers to be the better, more noble one. He is showing his "son" the more mature
way to handle each situation by contrasting it with the easy but undesirable
response.