Rate:3.5 / 2 votes

On the Critical Attitude

Bertolt Brecht

The critical attitude
Strikes many people as unfruitful
That is because they find the state
Impervious to their criticism
But what in this case is an unfruitful attitude
Is merely a feeble attitude. Give criticism arms
And states can be demolished by it.

Canalising a river
Grafting a fruit tree
Educating a person
Transforming a state
These are instances of fruitful criticism
And at the same time instances of art.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

21 sec read
591

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXBCAXX XXXBCX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 412
Words 72
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 6
Full analysis for On the Critical Attitude »

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, theatre director, and Marxist. more…

All Bertolt Brecht poems | Bertolt Brecht Books

1 fan

Discuss the poem On the Critical Attitude with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "On the Critical Attitude" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4305/on-the-critical-attitude>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    More poems by

    Bertolt Brecht

    »

    December 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    10
    days
    10
    hours
    20
    minutes
    79 entries submitted — 71 remaining

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Our awesome collection of

    Promoted Poems

    »

    Browse Poetry.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    The haiku is originally from ______.
    A China
    B Indonesia
    C Ireland
    D Japan