 | The Sceptical Muse |  |
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THE Sceptical Muse;
OR, A PARADOX ON Humane Understanding.
To make a World, and stretch the bulky Frame
Beyond where Thought or Fancy ever came:
The great Creators Fiat did suffice;
Mov'd by one Word the Massy Sphere did rise.
But when he did the World's great Lord Create,
The Sacred Triad then in Council sate.
Let us make Man, said God, whom we'll allow
To rule the Globe, and be Vice-God below.
Let us Create him too like us Divine:
And on his Soul let our bright Image shine.
So spake th' Eternal, and was heard around:
Lowd Peals of Thunder did attend the sound;
Nature obey'd, and lo! The teeming Earth
Produc'd a Figure of Ignoble Birth;
Of small account, 'till the Celestial Soul
Inform'd the Clay, and so compos'd the whole.
Beyond where Thought or Fancy ever came:
The great Creators Fiat did suffice;
Mov'd by one Word the Massy Sphere did rise.
But when he did the World's great Lord Create,
The Sacred Triad then in Council sate.
Let us make Man, said God, whom we'll allow
To rule the Globe, and be Vice-God below.
Let us Create him too like us Divine:
And on his Soul let our bright Image shine.
So spake th' Eternal, and was heard around:
Lowd Peals of Thunder did attend the sound;
Nature obey'd, and lo! The teeming Earth
Produc'd a Figure of Ignoble Birth;
Of small account, 'till the Celestial Soul
Inform'd the Clay, and so compos'd the whole.
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As first the Primogenial Light was hurl'd,
And scatter'd through the yet unfinish'd World,
Till God proceeding on his work did place
The Lucid Atoms in one shining Mass;
So those perfections which divided shone
In Nature's works did yet unite in none;
Till Man appear'd, a Creature more compleat:
Where all those lively scatter'd graces met.
And scatter'd through the yet unfinish'd World,
Till God proceeding on his work did place
The Lucid Atoms in one shining Mass;
So those perfections which divided shone
In Nature's works did yet unite in none;
Till Man appear'd, a Creature more compleat:
Where all those lively scatter'd graces met.
This glorious Being thus Divinely made
Exerts its pow'rs, and wonders are display'd:
The Soul which was of purest Angel-kind,
The reflex Image of its Maker's Mind:
At first unspotted by Polluting Sin,
With vigour did the Race of Life begin;
With all its Pow'rs and Faculties compleat
Started with Joy, and no resistance met,
Then th' Understanding without pain did climb:
Capacious, Active, Lively, and Sublime,
Clear as fair Fountains, and as pure as they,
Chast as the Morn, and open as the day.
The Will, which always follow'd Nature's Voice,
Was ne'er deceiv'd, but made a happy choice;
Judgment was then convictive, and sincere;
And all Discourse as Intuition clear.
Then Truth, or God himself, whom Truth we name
(For God and Truth are without doubt the same)
Was always present, and uncourted came;
That Immense Ocean which with Beauty flows;
That utmost Thule of Extended Vows
The Soul possess'd, nor from the Object mov'd:
But gaz'd, admir'd, contemplated, and lov'd.
Love then, that sweet procession of the Mind,
Was from all Dross, and Earthly Dreggs refin'd:
Wing'd with pure Zeal above the Clouds it rode,
And without Plato's Scale arriv'd at God.
Exerts its pow'rs, and wonders are display'd:
The Soul which was of purest Angel-kind,
The reflex Image of its Maker's Mind:
At first unspotted by Polluting Sin,
With vigour did the Race of Life begin;
With all its Pow'rs and Faculties compleat
Started with Joy, and no resistance met,
Then th' Understanding without pain did climb:
Capacious, Active, Lively, and Sublime,
Clear as fair Fountains, and as pure as they,
Chast as the Morn, and open as the day.
The Will, which always follow'd Nature's Voice,
Was ne'er deceiv'd, but made a happy choice;
Judgment was then convictive, and sincere;
And all Discourse as Intuition clear.
Then Truth, or God himself, whom Truth we name
(For God and Truth are without doubt the same)
Was always present, and uncourted came;
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That utmost Thule of Extended Vows
The Soul possess'd, nor from the Object mov'd:
But gaz'd, admir'd, contemplated, and lov'd.
Love then, that sweet procession of the Mind,
Was from all Dross, and Earthly Dreggs refin'd:
Wing'd with pure Zeal above the Clouds it rode,
And without Plato's Scale arriv'd at God.
To what perfection must that Schollar reach
Whom God's Immediate Discipline did teach?
Man at the first in perfect state appears;
Mature in Knowledge and mature in Years.
From him We first Philosophy may trace:
Parent of Wisdom, as of Human Race.
O the Vast Riches of this New-born Mind!
To furnish this, Heav'n prov'd excessive kind
Lavish'd its Treasures, and left none behind.
Since then, no Soul so brightly clad appears:
Such Seraph's Robes, nor Heav'nly Garments wears.
Unstudy'd Knowledge only was design'd,
The rich Attire of Adam's glorious Mind.
Thro' Nature's maze he knowledge could persue;
And no dark Object could contract his View.
The Prospect lengthen'd, as the Mind advanc'd,
While all before in beauteous Order danc'd.
Creation stoop'd, and ev'ry Creature came,
Display'd its Nature, and receiv'd a Name.
Thus Knowledge first was without pains acquir'd:
Man knew enough, but yet to more aspir'd;
To be more knowing, and more like his God:
Leaving the true, forbidden paths he trod,
But O, Abortive hopes! O fickle Joy
His vain Ambition God did soon destroy;
For lo! A Cloud comes wing'd with sudden night,
Man falls by Sin, and God withdraws his Light;
No more he finds the use of shining day;
But gropes for Knowledge, and mistakes his way.
So Angels once a happy state could boast:
O the bright Glories of that shining Host!
But when th' Apostates fierce Rebellion dar'd:
Sin'd to be great, and with th' Almighty warr'd,
Vengeance Divine did soon the fact persue:
And from Elysium sent the Godless Crew.
Whom God's Immediate Discipline did teach?
Man at the first in perfect state appears;
Mature in Knowledge and mature in Years.
From him We first Philosophy may trace:
Parent of Wisdom, as of Human Race.
O the Vast Riches of this New-born Mind!
To furnish this, Heav'n prov'd excessive kind
Lavish'd its Treasures, and left none behind.
Since then, no Soul so brightly clad appears:
Such Seraph's Robes, nor Heav'nly Garments wears.
Unstudy'd Knowledge only was design'd,
The rich Attire of Adam's glorious Mind.
Thro' Nature's maze he knowledge could persue;
And no dark Object could contract his View.
The Prospect lengthen'd, as the Mind advanc'd,
While all before in beauteous Order danc'd.
Creation stoop'd, and ev'ry Creature came,
Display'd its Nature, and receiv'd a Name.
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Man knew enough, but yet to more aspir'd;
To be more knowing, and more like his God:
Leaving the true, forbidden paths he trod,
But O, Abortive hopes! O fickle Joy
His vain Ambition God did soon destroy;
For lo! A Cloud comes wing'd with sudden night,
Man falls by Sin, and God withdraws his Light;
No more he finds the use of shining day;
But gropes for Knowledge, and mistakes his way.
So Angels once a happy state could boast:
O the bright Glories of that shining Host!
But when th' Apostates fierce Rebellion dar'd:
Sin'd to be great, and with th' Almighty warr'd,
Vengeance Divine did soon the fact persue:
And from Elysium sent the Godless Crew.
Our mis'ry then from Adam first we date:
Begun too soon, and ending very late.
Life now does scarce one glimpse of light display;
We mourn in darkness, and Despair of day.
That Nat'ral light, once dress'd with Orient beams:
Diminish'd looks, and now a Twilight seems:
A Miscellaneous Composition, made
Of Night, and Day, of Sun-shine, and of Shade.
Through an uncertain Medium now we look;
And find that Falshood, which for Truth we took;
So Rays projected from the Eastern Skies,
Shew the false Day, before the true can rise.
Begun too soon, and ending very late.
Life now does scarce one glimpse of light display;
We mourn in darkness, and Despair of day.
That Nat'ral light, once dress'd with Orient beams:
Diminish'd looks, and now a Twilight seems:
A Miscellaneous Composition, made
Of Night, and Day, of Sun-shine, and of Shade.
Through an uncertain Medium now we look;
And find that Falshood, which for Truth we took;
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Shew the false Day, before the true can rise.
Unhappy Man who through successive years
To Life's last Ebb, from early Childhood Errs!
No sooner born, but proves a Foe to Truth:
For Infant Reason is o'er powr'd in Youth;
The Cheats of sense will half our Learning share:
And Preconceptions all our knowledge are.
Reason 'tis true, should over sense preside,
Correct our Notions and our Judgments guide;
But false Opinions, rooted in the mind
Hood-wink the Soul, and keep the Reason blind;
Reason's a Taper, which but faintly burns:
A Languid Flame that glows and dies by turns:
We see't a while, and but a little way
We travel by its Light, as Men by Day;
But quickly dying, it forsakes us soon;
Like Morning Stars that never stay till Noon.
To Life's last Ebb, from early Childhood Errs!
No sooner born, but proves a Foe to Truth:
For Infant Reason is o'er powr'd in Youth;
The Cheats of sense will half our Learning share:
And Preconceptions all our knowledge are.
Reason 'tis true, should over sense preside,
Correct our Notions and our Judgments guide;
But false Opinions, rooted in the mind
Hood-wink the Soul, and keep the Reason blind;
Reason's a Taper, which but faintly burns:
A Languid Flame that glows and dies by turns:
We see't a while, and but a little way
We travel by its Light, as Men by Day;
But quickly dying, it forsakes us soon;
Like Morning Stars that never stay till Noon.
The Soul can scarce above the body rise,
And all we see is with corporeal Eyes.
That little knowledge now which Man obtains,
From outward Objects, and from Sense, he gleans.
He, like the painful Bee, must plod and sweat:
By day must toil, by night that toil repeat;
And yet at last, what little Fruit he gains?
A Beggar's Harvest, glean'd with mighty pains.
And all we see is with corporeal Eyes.
That little knowledge now which Man obtains,
From outward Objects, and from Sense, he gleans.
He, like the painful Bee, must plod and sweat:
By day must toil, by night that toil repeat;
And yet at last, what little Fruit he gains?
A Beggar's Harvest, glean'd with mighty pains.
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The Passions still predominant will rule:
Uncivil, rude, nor bred in Reason's School:
Our Understanding they with darkness fill,
Cause strange Conceptions, and pervert the Will.
On these the Soul, as on some flowing tide,
Must sit, and on the swelling Billows ride;
Hurry'd away, for how can be withstood
Th' Impetuous Torrent of the boyling blood?
Be gone false hopes, for all our Learning's vain,
Can we be free when these the rule maintain?
These are the tools of Knowledge which we use,
The spirits heated will strange things produce.
Tell me who e'er the Passions could controul,
Or from the body disengage the soul:
Till this is done, our best persuits are vain
To conquer Truth, and unmixt knowledge gain.
Uncivil, rude, nor bred in Reason's School:
Our Understanding they with darkness fill,
Cause strange Conceptions, and pervert the Will.
On these the Soul, as on some flowing tide,
Must sit, and on the swelling Billows ride;
Hurry'd away, for how can be withstood
Th' Impetuous Torrent of the boyling blood?
Be gone false hopes, for all our Learning's vain,
Can we be free when these the rule maintain?
These are the tools of Knowledge which we use,
The spirits heated will strange things produce.
Tell me who e'er the Passions could controul,
Or from the body disengage the soul:
Till this is done, our best persuits are vain
To conquer Truth, and unmixt knowledge gain.
Custom the World's great Idol we adore:
And knowing this, we seek to know no more.
What Education did at first receive
Maturer Age confirms us to believe.
The careful Nurse, and Priest is all we need
To learn Opinions, and our Country's Creed;
The Parents precepts early are instill'd
And spoil the Man, while they instruct the Child.
To what hard Fate is Human-kind betray'd?
When thus Implicit Faith's a Vertue made;
When Education more than Truth prevails
And nought is current but what Custom seals.
Thus from the time we first begin to know
We live and learn, but not the wiser grow;
We seldom use our liberty aright,
No Judge of things by Universal Light:
Our prepossessions and Affections bind
The Soul in Chains and lord it o'er the Mind.
And if self Int'rest be but in the case
Our unexamin'd Principles may pass.
Good God! that man should thus himself deceive,
To learn on Credit, and on Trust believe:
Better the Mind no Notions had retain'd,
But still a fair unwritten blank remain'd.
For now who Truth from Falshood would discern
Must first disrobe the Mind, and all unlearn:
Errors, contracted in unmindful Youth,
When once remov'd, will smooth the way for Truth:
To dispossess the Child the Mortal lives,
But Death approaches e'er the Man arrives.
And knowing this, we seek to know no more.
What Education did at first receive
Maturer Age confirms us to believe.
The careful Nurse, and Priest is all we need
To learn Opinions, and our Country's Creed;
The Parents precepts early are instill'd
And spoil the Man, while they instruct the Child.
To what hard Fate is Human-kind betray'd?
When thus Implicit Faith's a Vertue made;
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And nought is current but what Custom seals.
Thus from the time we first begin to know
We live and learn, but not the wiser grow;
We seldom use our liberty aright,
No Judge of things by Universal Light:
Our prepossessions and Affections bind
The Soul in Chains and lord it o'er the Mind.
And if self Int'rest be but in the case
Our unexamin'd Principles may pass.
Good God! that man should thus himself deceive,
To learn on Credit, and on Trust believe:
Better the Mind no Notions had retain'd,
But still a fair unwritten blank remain'd.
For now who Truth from Falshood would discern
Must first disrobe the Mind, and all unlearn:
Errors, contracted in unmindful Youth,
When once remov'd, will smooth the way for Truth:
To dispossess the Child the Mortal lives,
But Death approaches e'er the Man arrives.
Those who would Learning's glorious Kingdom find,
The dear bought purchase of the trading Mind:
From many dangers must themselves acquit,
And more than Scylla and Charybdis meet.
O what an Ocean must be Voyag'd o'er!
To gain a prospect of the shining shore:
Resisting Rocks oppose the bounding Soul,
And adverse Waves retard it as they roll.
Does not that foolish deference we pay
To Men that liv'd long since, our passage stay?
O what prepost'rous paths at first we tread!
And learn to walk by stumbling on the Dead.
First we a blessing from the Grave implore,
Worship Old Urns, and Monuments adore:
The Rev'rend Sage with vast esteem we prize;
He liv'd long since, and must be wond'rous wise.
Thus are we Debtors to the famous Dead
For all those Errors which their Phancies bred,
Errors indeed! for real Knowledge stay'd
With those first times, nor farther was convey'd;
But light Opinions are much lower brought;
While on the Waves of Ignorance they float:
But solid Truth scarce ever gains the shore
So soon it sinks, and ne'r emerges more.
The dear bought purchase of the trading Mind:
From many dangers must themselves acquit,
And more than Scylla and Charybdis meet.
O what an Ocean must be Voyag'd o'er!
To gain a prospect of the shining shore:
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And adverse Waves retard it as they roll.
Does not that foolish deference we pay
To Men that liv'd long since, our passage stay?
O what prepost'rous paths at first we tread!
And learn to walk by stumbling on the Dead.
First we a blessing from the Grave implore,
Worship Old Urns, and Monuments adore:
The Rev'rend Sage with vast esteem we prize;
He liv'd long since, and must be wond'rous wise.
Thus are we Debtors to the famous Dead
For all those Errors which their Phancies bred,
Errors indeed! for real Knowledge stay'd
With those first times, nor farther was convey'd;
But light Opinions are much lower brought;
While on the Waves of Ignorance they float:
But solid Truth scarce ever gains the shore
So soon it sinks, and ne'r emerges more.
And now suppose this maze of dangers past:
Will Knowledge dawn, and bless the Mind at last
Ah! no, 'tis now environ'd from our Eyes,
Hides all its Charms, and undiscover'd lies.
Truth like a point or line escapes the sight
And claims Intention to perceive it right:
But what resembles Truth is soon descry'd,
Spread like a surface, and expanded wide:
The first Man rarely, very rarely finds:
The tedious search of long inquiring Minds.
But yet what's worse, we know not when we err;
What mark does Truth, what bright distinction bear?
How do we know, that what we know is true?
How shall we falsehood fly, and truth persue?
Let none then here his certain knowledge boast,
'Tis all but probability at most:
This is the easie purchase of the Mind,
The Vulgar's Treasure, which we soon may find:
But Truth lies hid, and e'er we can explore
The glitt'ring Gem, our fleeting Life is o'er.
Will Knowledge dawn, and bless the Mind at last
Ah! no, 'tis now environ'd from our Eyes,
Hides all its Charms, and undiscover'd lies.
Truth like a point or line escapes the sight
And claims Intention to perceive it right:
But what resembles Truth is soon descry'd,
Spread like a surface, and expanded wide:
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The tedious search of long inquiring Minds.
But yet what's worse, we know not when we err;
What mark does Truth, what bright distinction bear?
How do we know, that what we know is true?
How shall we falsehood fly, and truth persue?
Let none then here his certain knowledge boast,
'Tis all but probability at most:
This is the easie purchase of the Mind,
The Vulgar's Treasure, which we soon may find:
But Truth lies hid, and e'er we can explore
The glitt'ring Gem, our fleeting Life is o'er.
Through all the bulky Volumes of the Dead,
And through those Books which modern times have bred
The Soul may travel, as thro Moorish ground:
Where scarce one Useful Plant is ever found:
O'er-run with Errors, which so thick appear,
That searching Truth, we cannot find it there:
And through those Books which modern times have bred
The Soul may travel, as thro Moorish ground:
Where scarce one Useful Plant is ever found:
O'er-run with Errors, which so thick appear,
That searching Truth, we cannot find it there:
Bless'd Revelation but for thee we might
Have travel'd thro' a dark and tedious night;
Thy wond'rous force hath reach'd th' Imprison'd Mind,
And loos'd those Fetters, which her pow'rs did bind;
Now, now she's free, and can with Ease run o'er
Those obvious Truths so much perplex'd before
Reason has little now to do but prove
That some most perfect Being rules above,
And this by little Inference we find:
'Tis plain; 'tis bright, 'tis written on the Mind.
If there's a God, it then must be believ'd
He's no Deceiver, nor can be deceiv'd;
And if he spake, as may be plainly prov'd;
Then truth prevails, and every doubt's remov'd.
Here then at last my weary'd Soul shall rest:
With Heav'nly light, and sacred knowledge blest.
And now methinks bright Angels round me stand,
And bid me welcome to a peaceful Land.
Methinks I'm lifted to an higher Sphere
Where all is mild, and all the Prospect clear:
From hence I can behold contending Schools,
Disputing Sects, Philosophers, and Fools;
Now I can each Hypothesis despise,
Laugh at Opinions, and be boldly wise:
No more, Ye Dogmatists, your Wit shall harm
My liss'ning Soul, no more my Reason charm;
No more you shall my Faculties controul:
Suspicion guards, and Doubt defends my Soul,
Have travel'd thro' a dark and tedious night;
Thy wond'rous force hath reach'd th' Imprison'd Mind,
And loos'd those Fetters, which her pow'rs did bind;
Now, now she's free, and can with Ease run o'er
Those obvious Truths so much perplex'd before
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That some most perfect Being rules above,
And this by little Inference we find:
'Tis plain; 'tis bright, 'tis written on the Mind.
If there's a God, it then must be believ'd
He's no Deceiver, nor can be deceiv'd;
And if he spake, as may be plainly prov'd;
Then truth prevails, and every doubt's remov'd.
Here then at last my weary'd Soul shall rest:
With Heav'nly light, and sacred knowledge blest.
And now methinks bright Angels round me stand,
And bid me welcome to a peaceful Land.
Methinks I'm lifted to an higher Sphere
Where all is mild, and all the Prospect clear:
From hence I can behold contending Schools,
Disputing Sects, Philosophers, and Fools;
Now I can each Hypothesis despise,
Laugh at Opinions, and be boldly wise:
No more, Ye Dogmatists, your Wit shall harm
My liss'ning Soul, no more my Reason charm;
No more you shall my Faculties controul:
Suspicion guards, and Doubt defends my Soul,
FINIS.
| The Sceptical Muse | |