A Translation

by Rudyard Kipling — a poem card from Justes Mots

Adapting classical themes, the poem expresses the speaker's indifference to scientific progress and material convenience, preferring the eternal truths kindled by the poet Pindar and contemplation of divine will. It contrasts worldly pursuits—chemistry, mechanics, engineering—with the singular flame of poetic inspiration, positioning the latter as life's true measure. This appeals to readers valuing artistic and spiritual pursuits over technological advancement and pragmatic concerns.

There are whose study is of smells,
And to attentive schools rehearse
How something mixed with something else
Makes something worse.

Some cultivate in broths impure
The clients of our body, these,
Increasing without Venus, cure,…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection