1. May God curse the art of poetry, what
Kinds of ignorance have we found in it.

2. They prefer the strange over what
Was easy and clear to listeners.

3. And they see the impossible as true
And worthless speech as precious.

4. They are ignorant of its truth and do not
Realize they are ignorant.

5. With those equal to us they are blamed
And with the truthful they are excused by us.

6. Poetry is only what complements rhythm
Even if it has skillful qualities.

7. So some of it resembles some
As though hearts have built strong edifices for it.

8. Every meaning that comes to you from it, as
You wish it were not to be.

9. So it goes beyond eloquence until
Its beauty is almost visible to spectators.

10. It is as if its words are faces
And its meanings assembled eyes.

11. Missing the point according to whims
Clarifying its beauty to reciters.

12. So if you praise in poetry an honorable man
You follow the ways of the devoted.

13. You make lineage easy and near
And you make praise evident truth.

14. And you avoid what is indecent in hearing
Even if its utterance is harmonious.

15. And if you dispraise it with satire
You refrain from the ways of the vulgar.

16. You make explicitness a remedy
And you make implication a hidden disease.

17. And if you weep over the departed
With tears protected in the eyes.

18. Then if you are reproaching, you resemble
In it the ways of the hot-tempered.

19. So you left the one you reproached
Cautious, safe, mighty, and prominent.

20. And if it is said that you make people hope broadly
And if hinted that you challenge the challengers.