Translation of The Gods of the Copybook Headings

Via a comment from bob r is this translation into modern day English of Rudyard Kipling’s poem I quoted from yesterday:

The simple substitution of a couple phrases made a huge difference in my understanding of this poem. Listen and marvel at so much substance packed into so few words and rhyme.

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3 thoughts on “Translation of The Gods of the Copybook Headings

  1. It would be a fine thing if Trump were to quote this during his state of the union address.

    • But if he did, the worshipers of the “Gods of the Here and Now” would rant that Kipling was white, British, racist, imperialist, and “Wisdom and Virtue” are too old fashioned for today’s woke world.

  2. “…the ‘marketplace’ was a bustling hive of rumor and gossip, the place where fads just ran wild, where reason was scarce and the latest nonsense was in fashion…”

    I’d suggest that rather than “the Gods of the Here and Now”, it might be a lot more accurate and relatable to have used “the Gods of Social Media”…

    Might be harder to rhyme, though.

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