The Evolution of Medicine

[Reilley]

Twenty centuries ago, medicine was far from astute.
If you were sick your neighbor said, here, eat this root.

A thousand years after, religion supplanted health care
That root is heathen, to be well, say this prayer.

A few centuries later alchemy was the grand notion.
That prayer is heathen, here, drink this potion.

Then soon after, science knew what made you ill,
That potion is mere snake oil, here, take this pill.

Not long ago, dispensing medicine became robotic
That pill is ineffective, here, take this antibiotic.

Now chemicals are the enemy, nature’s healing beyond refute.
That antibiotic is artificial, here, eat this root.

[heslopian]

Twenty centuries ago, medicine was far from astute.
If you were sick your neighbor said, here, eat this root. The rhyme of "astue" and "root" is very amusing.

A thousand years after, religion supplanted health care Should some kind of punctuation go after this line, to prevent it from running into its successor? This comment also applies to the first line of the fifth couplet.
That root is heathen, to be well, say this prayer.

A few centuries later alchemy was the grand notion.
That prayer is heathen, here, drink this potion.

Then soon after, science knew what made you ill,
That potion is mere snake oil, here, take this pill. I like the development from "heathen" to "snake oil", which subtly conveys man's progression from religious to scientific notions, and thus vernacular.

Not long ago, dispensing medicine became robotic
That pill is ineffective, here, take this antibiotic.

Now chemicals are the enemy, nature’s healing beyond refute.
That antibiotic is artificial, here, eat this root.

I really enjoyed this poem. It made me smile and was a witty evocation of how humanity progresses, but then regresses (or at least desires to). The circular nature of the poem's narrative is very pleasing. Critique is JMHO. Thank you for the read

[PoetryAndPhysics]

Twenty centuries ago, medicine was far from astute.
If you were sick your neighbor said, here, eat this root.More detail would be nice. You could specify the type of root, for example. I feel it's too easy to say “Long ago, people ate roots for medicine”. Granted, I'm not sure how in depth I myself would've researched things...

A thousand years after, religion supplanted health care
That root is heathen, to be well, say this prayer.Bit cliché isn't it? Not to defend the church, but I'm sure they would've liked a good ol' root-potion as much as the next religion. Well, give or take.

A few centuries later alchemy was the grand notion.
That prayer is heathen, here, drink this potion.

Then soon after, science knew what made you ill,
That potion is mere snake oil, here, take this pill.

Not long ago, dispensing medicine became robotic
That pill is ineffective, here, take this antibiotic.In this case technically nothing has been supplanted; presumably medicine still uses pills as much as antibiotics. But I'm no doctor.

Now chemicals are the enemy, nature’s healing beyond refute.
That antibiotic is artificial, here, eat this root.

I do like the circular journey the poem take us on; good idea. If you keep going with it, I'd suggest better examples. Also, some of it is too straightforward, it wasn't as simple as one thing replaces another replaces another. Of course that's obvious, but you could try to weave it in to the narrative. Anyway, thanks for the read.

p&p

[btrudo]

stanza 2...health care seems like a forced rhyme.

stanza 3...
that prayer is heathen doesn't make sense.

I agree with p&p about the 5th stanza. Antibotics and pills are modern medicine, so one is not replacing the other. So you could drop the antibotics stanza and then switch the last line then to:
Those pills are artificial, here, eat this root.

Also I'm not so sure the here's are working.

The one thing replacing the other is fine by me; of course, it's more complicated than that. But this is also not an essay.

Smooth this out some and you'll have a little ditty.

a thought or two,
Bill

[ChristopherSea]

The Evolution of Medicine 'the de-evolution of medicine' may be more intriguing and provocative

Twenty centuries ago, medicine was far from astute.
If you were sick your neighbor said, here, eat this root. amusing & the best rhyme couplet

A thousand years after, religion supplanted health care
That root is heathen, to be well, say this prayer.

A few centuries later alchemy was the grand notion.
That prayer is heathen, here, drink this potion.

Then soon after, science knew what made you ill,
That potion is mere snake oil, here, take this pill.

Not long ago, dispensing medicine became robotic this may be the most forced sounding rhyme
That pill is ineffective, here, take this antibiotic.

Now chemicals are the enemy, nature’s healing beyond refute. something like 'Some deem chemicals are the enemy' is more accurate
That antibiotic is artificial, here, eat this root.


I'm not sure if you need the rhymes, but they do add some comic tone for me. Some meter could be tightened up. I like the piece and how it comes full circle, despite the fallacies concerning pharmaceuticals.

It's unfortunate that there quacks and pseudo-scientists all over the internet taking advantage of the ignorant. Professing homeopathic elixirs with no significant concentration of ingredients or unproven herbs or forsaking treatment at all except dedication to a cult, with appropriate fees attached. Don't believe them, science does not lie (it does evolve though), follow your doctor's advice. If ook up the nay-sayers in the Wikipedia (all unsubtantiated bull posted there is thrown out).