Poetry Jan 18, 2026

The Poet as Thief

By MW Editors

“Donc le poète est vraiment voleur de feu.”

— Arthur Rimbaud

Was Prometheus a poet?

Rimbaud says he was, stealing fire

from the gods: technology, knowledge,

human arts and sciences. He paid

a terrible price for his audacity.

Whatever was he thinking?

Look what we have done

with what he gave us. Okay,

we’ve got the Mona Lisa, Hamlet,

Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne,

movable type, the Brooklyn Bridge.

But how about the Spanish Inquisition,

the siege of Münster, TNT, mustard

gas, the Maxim gun, flame throwers,

the Holocaust, Rwandan genocide,

Predator drones, Hellfire missiles,

thermonuclear bombs?

Thanks a lot, Prometheus.

Poor sucker. I’d have to say

you didn’t do us any favors.