"Better the Mind no Notions had retain'd, / But still a fair unwritten blank remain'd."
— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Basset ... and Sold by Fr. Hicks [etc.]
Date
1699
Metaphor
"Better the Mind no Notions had retain'd, / But still a fair unwritten blank remain'd."
Metaphor in Context
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.
(pp. 6-7)
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.
(pp. 6-7)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
John Pomfret, The Sceptical Muse: or, A Paradox on Humane Understanding. A Poem (London: Printed for R. Basset and Sold by Fr. Hicks, 1699). <Link to EEBO>
Theme
Blank Slate
Date of Entry
07/18/2011
