 | Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose |  |
157
LEARNING
For what do's all Philosophy
But teach men Learnedly to Ly?
From false Grounds solidly t' infer
And how Judiciously to erre,
To universalls strech all Art
Untill 'tis Lame in evry Part.
But teach men Learnedly to Ly?
From false Grounds solidly t' infer
And how Judiciously to erre,
To universalls strech all Art
Untill 'tis Lame in evry Part.
What Nature had to human eies denyd,
He with the optiques of his minde discry'd.
He with the optiques of his minde discry'd.
Bookes and Schooles
Made Few men wise, but worlds of Fooles.
Made Few men wise, but worlds of Fooles.
The History of Learning is so Lame;
That 'tis unknown, from whence, at first it came:
Or who Invented it; For th' old Ægyptian
Do's only, claime a Title, by Præsc[r]iption,
Time out of Minde; and the untutord Græcians,
Were taught their Alphabet, by th' old Phœnicians.
Whence some are Confident, The Hebrew-Jew
Has better Right, to challeng, as his Due.
Derivd from Adam: As their own Samboscer
(The Rabins write) His Tutor was, and usher;
Till many Ages after, Greece, and Rome,
Were into Full Possession of it come.
Whence some have thought; 'Twas but to call to minde
Some Notions, left, in th' other world Behinde;
And quite forgotten, in our Passage hither,
Untill we Had Collected them, together.
That 'tis unknown, from whence, at first it came:
Or who Invented it; For th' old Ægyptian
Do's only, claime a Title, by Præsc[r]iption,
Time out of Minde; and the untutord Græcians,
Were taught their Alphabet, by th' old Phœnicians.
Whence some are Confident, The Hebrew-Jew
Has better Right, to challeng, as his Due.
Derivd from Adam: As their own Samboscer
(The Rabins write) His Tutor was, and usher;
Till many Ages after, Greece, and Rome,
Were into Full Possession of it come.
Whence some have thought; 'Twas but to call to minde
Some Notions, left, in th' other world Behinde;
And quite forgotten, in our Passage hither,
Untill we Had Collected them, together.
The Noblest Sense was never Learnt, nor taught
But into this world with the owner brought
As Naturally as a Part, or Limbe,
That was Begotten, and grew up with him.
From whence it was, The Antient world was wont
T' ascribe Invention to some Gods Account.
For there's no Liberal Art, nor Document
That teache's how to Fancy and Invent.
That's but a Natural Freehold of Merit
Which only those wh' are born to can Inherit.
Yet when The Freest Judgment, and first Starts
Of Reason are the Signes of greatest Parts
Some think they are but dainty Fruits that Drop,
By Beast, or vermine to be Eaten up.
But into this world with the owner brought
As Naturally as a Part, or Limbe,
That was Begotten, and grew up with him.
From whence it was, The Antient world was wont
T' ascribe Invention to some Gods Account.
For there's no Liberal Art, nor Document
That teache's how to Fancy and Invent.
158
Which only those wh' are born to can Inherit.
Yet when The Freest Judgment, and first Starts
Of Reason are the Signes of greatest Parts
Some think they are but dainty Fruits that Drop,
By Beast, or vermine to be Eaten up.
The Faults of Language, are the variations,
Of Dialects, and Moods, and Declinations,
With æqual wants of Syntax, to Reduce,
And make hang together, in their use.
In which, the Nat'rall Temper of the Greek
Is both the most Luxuriant, and to seeke.
And yet their Sages, who are known, s' absurd,
To put their Stress of Reason, on a word,
Could never express exactly what they meant
Untill they had Destroyd the Argument.
Of Dialects, and Moods, and Declinations,
With æqual wants of Syntax, to Reduce,
And make hang together, in their use.
In which, the Nat'rall Temper of the Greek
Is both the most Luxuriant, and to seeke.
And yet their Sages, who are known, s' absurd,
To put their Stress of Reason, on a word,
Could never express exactly what they meant
Untill they had Destroyd the Argument.
In all mistakes, The Strickt, and Regular,
Are found, to be the Desperatst ways to Erre:
And worst to be avoyded, as a wound
Is sayd to be, the harder Curd, that's Round:
For Error and mistake the less th' Appeare
In th' End are found to be the Dangrouser;
As no Man mind's those Clocks that use to go
Apparently to[o] over fast, or slow.
Are found, to be the Desperatst ways to Erre:
And worst to be avoyded, as a wound
Is sayd to be, the harder Curd, that's Round:
For Error and mistake the less th' Appeare
In th' End are found to be the Dangrouser;
As no Man mind's those Clocks that use to go
Apparently to[o] over fast, or slow.
More Proselyts, and Converts, use t' accrew
To false Perswasions, then the Right, and true.
For Error, and Mystake, are Infinite
But Truth has only one way, to b' in the Right.
As Numbers may t' Infinity be Grown
But never be Reducd to less then one.
To false Perswasions, then the Right, and true.
For Error, and Mystake, are Infinite
But Truth has only one way, to b' in the Right.
As Numbers may t' Infinity be Grown
But never be Reducd to less then one.
The Stoiques believd, the Gods could do no good
Nor Hurt, themselvs, but as the Fates allowd;
But when they stickled for it, in their Porch,
The Fates forsooke and left them in the lurch,
Exposd them to maintaine it with the losses
Of some mens lives, and others Eies, and Noses,
And provd their own opinions, by their Fall,
That some Mens virtu is an Animal.
Nor Hurt, themselvs, but as the Fates allowd;
But when they stickled for it, in their Porch,
The Fates forsooke and left them in the lurch,
Exposd them to maintaine it with the losses
Of some mens lives, and others Eies, and Noses,
And provd their own opinions, by their Fall,
That some Mens virtu is an Animal.
159
The Epicureans had no persuasion
T' Imploy the Gods upon this worlds Creation;
Believ'd 'twas Modeld not by Artifice
But Fortune, and Haphazard, piece by piece;
And to afflict 'em for their Ignorance
Believd themselvs as Justly made by Chance,
Until th' Athenians for their Principles
Chargd them with luxury, and nothing else.
T' Imploy the Gods upon this worlds Creation;
Believ'd 'twas Modeld not by Artifice
But Fortune, and Haphazard, piece by piece;
And to afflict 'em for their Ignorance
Believd themselvs as Justly made by Chance,
Until th' Athenians for their Principles
Chargd them with luxury, and nothing else.
So He that offers Nature best to know,
Deny's the God[s], H' had made his Prayers to.
Begs Venus t' use her Interest with Mars
To Leave his Battles (for a while) and wars
And, for his Patron Memmius, Intercede
To be at leasure, what he sayd, to Read,
But Presently conclude[s], The Gods Forbear
To medle with our little Intrests here,
And, when he makes the Heavy thing[s] ascend,
Because the greatest Trees do upward tend,
Forgot that Trees grow upward to their Hight
When all the thin Attracted Parts are light.
Deny's the God[s], H' had made his Prayers to.
Begs Venus t' use her Interest with Mars
To Leave his Battles (for a while) and wars
And, for his Patron Memmius, Intercede
To be at leasure, what he sayd, to Read,
But Presently conclude[s], The Gods Forbear
To medle with our little Intrests here,
And, when he makes the Heavy thing[s] ascend,
Because the greatest Trees do upward tend,
Forgot that Trees grow upward to their Hight
When all the thin Attracted Parts are light.
So he that put his Son to Socrates
To learn to Prove, what ever, he should please,
To pay his Debts with Arguments, chose rather
To shew his skil in Beating of his Father,
And after answer for it, in a Court,
As he Design'd, and was acquitted for't.
To learn to Prove, what ever, he should please,
To pay his Debts with Arguments, chose rather
To shew his skil in Beating of his Father,
And after answer for it, in a Court,
As he Design'd, and was acquitted for't.
[Learned Men]
Are wont to fortify the weakest Places
Of all their Studies with the Hardest Phrases,
Tho wholly unconcernd in Truth or Falshood
But as they Chance to fall out for the Souls good
But always Pin a Hebrew Alphabet
Upon the Hangings where they use to eat;
With Prints of Hieroglyphiques on the wals,
With Kircher Box of whistles and Catcals,
And many a Talismanical Device
To Root out vermine with, and Rats and mice;
Whose most Extempral and Careles Act
Is stiffer then an antique Cataphract.
Are wont to fortify the weakest Places
Of all their Studies with the Hardest Phrases,
Tho wholly unconcernd in Truth or Falshood
But as they Chance to fall out for the Souls good
But always Pin a Hebrew Alphabet
Upon the Hangings where they use to eat;
With Prints of Hieroglyphiques on the wals,
With Kircher Box of whistles and Catcals,
And many a Talismanical Device
To Root out vermine with, and Rats and mice;
Whose most Extempral and Careles Act
Is stiffer then an antique Cataphract.
160
No mathematician ever was Esteemd
That had not been for Conjurer condemnd.
That had not been for Conjurer condemnd.
The Metaphysique's but a Puppet Motion
That go's with Screw's, the Notion of a Notion,
The Copy of a Copy, and Lame Draught
Unnaturally taken from a thought;
That Counterfets all Pantomimique Tricks
And Turnes the Eies, like an old Crucifix.
That Counter Changes, whatsoe're it calls
B' another Name, and make's it tru, or False.
Turns truth to falshood, Falshood into Truth
By vertu of the Babilonians Tooth.
That go's with Screw's, the Notion of a Notion,
The Copy of a Copy, and Lame Draught
Unnaturally taken from a thought;
That Counterfets all Pantomimique Tricks
And Turnes the Eies, like an old Crucifix.
That Counter Changes, whatsoe're it calls
B' another Name, and make's it tru, or False.
Turns truth to falshood, Falshood into Truth
By vertu of the Babilonians Tooth.
For Reason is not only found to Grow,
But wast's, and weares out, with the Body too.
Is Sickly, and In health, and Sleeps, and wakes,
And whatsoere the Body feeles Partakes.
When all their Reason[s] have but one Result,
And that's Instinct, or Quality occult,
That understand when Reason's at its Height,
And when again Impertinent and slight;
When it Approaches next to Demonstration,
And when no Nearer then Imagination.
But wast's, and weares out, with the Body too.
Is Sickly, and In health, and Sleeps, and wakes,
And whatsoere the Body feeles Partakes.
When all their Reason[s] have but one Result,
And that's Instinct, or Quality occult,
That understand when Reason's at its Height,
And when again Impertinent and slight;
When it Approaches next to Demonstration,
And when no Nearer then Imagination.
If greatest Masters, ere they reachd their Height,
Had not in Bungling, found as much Delight
As After in their greatest Mastery,
They never had Arrivd at that Degree.
Had not in Bungling, found as much Delight
As After in their greatest Mastery,
They never had Arrivd at that Degree.
The Best Authority, instead of Reasons,
Is but a Kind of Statute with Defeasance:
For things that are Imperiously sayd
Are but the sooner to be disobeyd.
Is but a Kind of Statute with Defeasance:
For things that are Imperiously sayd
Are but the sooner to be disobeyd.
For all Inventions that the world Contains
Were not by Reason first found out, but chance;
But Pass for theirs, who had the Luck to light
Upon them by Mistake, or oversight.
Were not by Reason first found out, but chance;
But Pass for theirs, who had the Luck to light
Upon them by Mistake, or oversight.
A Language Dead can never be Restord
So much to Life, to own a New made word;
Were Tully now alive, Hee'd be to seek
In all our Latin Tearms of Art, and Greek.
Would never understand one word of Sense,
The most Irrefragables[t] Schoolman means;
As if the Schooles Designd their Tearms of Art
Not to Advance a Science, but Divert;
As Hocus-Pocus Conjures, to amuse
The Rabble, from observing what he do's.
So much to Life, to own a New made word;
Were Tully now alive, Hee'd be to seek
In all our Latin Tearms of Art, and Greek.
161
The most Irrefragables[t] Schoolman means;
As if the Schooles Designd their Tearms of Art
Not to Advance a Science, but Divert;
As Hocus-Pocus Conjures, to amuse
The Rabble, from observing what he do's.
The world had never been a St[r]aw the worse
If it had never had Philosophers.
If it had never had Philosophers.
For Metaphysique's but a kinde of Brandy
Drawn out of Dead-wine Leeze, t' ingage, and bandy
And yet wil serve Inceptors to Comence,
And take Degrees, much easier then with Sense,
To clabber-claw a tough and stuborn Theses
To any Nonsense, either Party Pleases:
For some Mens Fortunes like a weft or stray
Are only Gained by losing of their way.
Drawn out of Dead-wine Leeze, t' ingage, and bandy
And yet wil serve Inceptors to Comence,
And take Degrees, much easier then with Sense,
To clabber-claw a tough and stuborn Theses
To any Nonsense, either Party Pleases:
For some Mens Fortunes like a weft or stray
Are only Gained by losing of their way.
So he that held th' Ete[r]nity of Nature
In the next place, makes mention, of First matter;
And after, to Interpret what he means,
Put's on the words a Metaphisique Sense;
Which some b' a second hand Mistake, have been
So Confident, to take their Oaths, Th' have seene.
In the next place, makes mention, of First matter;
And after, to Interpret what he means,
Put's on the words a Metaphisique Sense;
Which some b' a second hand Mistake, have been
So Confident, to take their Oaths, Th' have seene.
For 'tis not strange for Disputants t' assert
What both deny (Implicitly) by Art:
The one to prove, the other, to Disclame,
When both mistake themselves; and meane the same.
What both deny (Implicitly) by Art:
The one to prove, the other, to Disclame,
When both mistake themselves; and meane the same.
The more men take upon them, and Profess
To know all things, they understand the lesse;
Who count it a Disparagment, and Shame
To heare an unknown Booke, or Authors Name,
Or aske the meaning of a word abroad,
They never heard before, nor understood,
For feare of being Suspected, For their want
Of knowing all things, weake and Ignorant,
The only course that never fayles, t' Advance,
And fortify, their Nat'rall Ignorance.
To know all things, they understand the lesse;
Who count it a Disparagment, and Shame
To heare an unknown Booke, or Authors Name,
Or aske the meaning of a word abroad,
They never heard before, nor understood,
For feare of being Suspected, For their want
Of knowing all things, weake and Ignorant,
The only course that never fayles, t' Advance,
And fortify, their Nat'rall Ignorance.
162
The Barbarousest Nations Adages
Are wittyer, then those of Rome, and Greece,
Which Pædants with their greatest Diligence
Had rather breed their Pupils to, then sense.
As Properer to fit the Idiom
Of th' Antique Parrots and Jack-daws of Rome.
Are wittyer, then those of Rome, and Greece,
Which Pædants with their greatest Diligence
Had rather breed their Pupils to, then sense.
As Properer to fit the Idiom
Of th' Antique Parrots and Jack-daws of Rome.
The wits of Mankind are but subtle Spirits
Designd to Hunt in th' underworld like Ferrets,
But have no wings to Raise themselves and Fly
Beyond their Altitude at things too High.
Designd to Hunt in th' underworld like Ferrets,
But have no wings to Raise themselves and Fly
Beyond their Altitude at things too High.
For when the Circulation of the Bloud
Tho ere so easy, was not understood,
How should the world expect that things more hard
Should ever be Discoverd afterward.
Tho ere so easy, was not understood,
How should the world expect that things more hard
Should ever be Discoverd afterward.
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