The Will to Science

[ThePen]

The Will to Science


Edit1


  Will, to Science, is a supplicant,
Though oft we hear of Nature bent to will;
Researchers’ theories will the truth they want,
But Nature’s answers may affirm - or kill.

  Some pretend to research, but create,
Instead of listening, what they wish to hear;
They stitch false data, lest their theories’ fate
Prove ignominious, as they rightly fear.

  Nature can’t be forced: she must be wooed,
Respectfully, nor her consent assumed.
Each theory’s one love-letter: never brood
On its rejection.  Mend, where you presumed!

    But oh, the joy of Nature’s earned assent,
    Dissolving dread of disillusionment!



Original version


  Will, to Science, is a supplicant,
Though oft we hear of Nature bent to will;
Researchers’ theories will the truth they want,
But Nature, answering, can assent or kill.

  Some pretend to research, but create,
Instead of listening, what they wish to hear;
They paint false data, lest their theories’ fate
Prove ignominious, as they rightly fear.

  Nature can’t be forced: she must be wooed,
Respectfully, nor her consent assumed.
Each theory’s a love-letter: never brood
On its rejection.  Mend, where you presumed!

    But oh, the joy of Nature’s earned assent,
    Dissolving dread of disillusionment!

---

Archaisms, etc. are intentional (though not byond criticism) - Modified Shakespearean, as was Francis Bacon who invented science as we know it.

Your poem is good. I like that you stuck to your rhyming scheme A/B A/B. I think that at the beginning there is quite a bit of intellectualism with the use of "theories", "research", and "data". And then, in the end, you seem to actually personify nature, which seems to depart from your theme of science.

Maybe you could use a more apt title?