John Pomfret was an English, Church of England clergyman who had received the classical and university education of his day. He wrote a number of poems.
This is written in the same meter as Shakespeare made famous, and tackles a topic which by then was not new - the discussion between whether we can believe what we are told to believe without question (fideism) which the Catholic Church revived through Erasmus' defence of her traditions, or, biblical faith is both provable and 'reason'able.
Deeper in the text, is a discussion about the carnal mind and a defence of Truth over 'knowledge'.
For those who decide to read, I'd be interested in what you make of his use of the word [i]Revelation
THE Sceptical Muse;
OR, A PARADOX ON Humane Understanding . [from The Sceptical Muse (1699)]
1 To make a World, and stretch the bulky Frame
2 Beyond where Thought or Fancy ever came:
3 The great Creators [i]Fiat
4 Mov'd by one Word the Massy Sphere did rise.
5 But when he did the World's great Lord Create,
6 The Sacred [i]Triad
7 [i]Let us make Man
8 To rule the Globe, and be Vice-God below.
9 Let us Create him too like us Divine:
10 And on his Soul let our bright Image shine.
11 So spake th' [i]Eternal
12 Lowd Peals of Thunder did attend the sound;
13 Nature obey'd, and lo! The teeming Earth
14 Produc'd a Figure of Ignoble Birth;
15 Of small account, 'till the Celestial Soul
16 Inform'd the Clay, and so compos'd the whole.
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17 As first the [i]Primogenial
18 And scatter'd through the yet unfinish'd World,
19 Till God proceeding on his work did place
20 The Lucid Atoms in one shining Mass;
21 So those perfections which divided shone
22 In Nature's works did yet unite in none;
23 Till Man appear'd, a Creature more compleat:
24 Where all those lively scatter'd graces met.
25 This glorious Being thus Divinely made
26 Exerts its pow'rs, and wonders are display'd:
27 The Soul which was of purest Angel-kind,
28 The reflex Image of its Maker's Mind:
29 At first unspotted by Polluting Sin,
30 With vigour did the Race of Life begin;
31 With all its Pow'rs and Faculties compleat
32 Started with Joy, and no resistance met,
33 Then th' [i]Understanding
34 Capacious, Active, Lively, and Sublime,
35 Clear as fair Fountains, and as pure as they,
36 Chast as the Morn, and open as the day.
37 The [i]Will
38 Was ne'er deceiv'd, but made a happy choice;
39 [i]Judgment
40 And all Discourse as Intuition clear.
41 Then Truth, or God himself, whom Truth we name
42 (For God and Truth are without doubt the same)
43 Was always present, and uncourted came;
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44 That Immense Ocean which with Beauty flows;
45 That utmost [i]Thule
46 The Soul possess'd, nor from the Object mov'd:
47 But gaz'd, admir'd, contemplated, and lov'd.
48 Love then, that sweet procession of the Mind,
49 Was from all Dross, and Earthly Dreggs refin'd:
50 Wing'd with pure Zeal above the Clouds it rode,
51 And without [i]Plato's
52 To what perfection must that Schollar reach
53 Whom God's Immediate Discipline did teach?
54 Man at the first in perfect state appears;
55 Mature in Knowledge and mature in Years.
56 From him We first Philosophy may trace:
57 Parent of Wisdom, as of Human Race.
58 O the Vast Riches of this New-born Mind!
59 To furnish this, Heav'n prov'd excessive kind
60 Lavish'd its Treasures, and left none behind.
61 Since then, no Soul so brightly clad appears:
62 Such Seraph's Robes, nor Heav'nly Garments wears.
63 Unstudy'd Knowledge only was design'd,
64 The rich Attire of [i]Adam
65 Thro' Nature's maze he knowledge could persue;
66 And no dark Object could contract his View.
67 The Prospect lengthen'd, as the Mind advanc'd,
68 While all before in beauteous Order danc'd.
69 Creation stoop'd, and ev'ry Creature came,
70 Display'd its Nature, and receiv'd a Name.
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71 Thus Knowledge first was without pains acquir'd:
72 Man knew enough, but yet to more aspir'd;
73 To be more knowing, and more like his God:
74 Leaving the true, forbidden paths he trod,
75 But O, Abortive hopes! O fickle Joy
76 His vain Ambition God did soon destroy;
77 For lo! A Cloud comes wing'd with sudden night,
78 Man falls by Sin, and God withdraws his Light;
79 No more he finds the use of shining day;
80 But gropes for Knowledge, and mistakes his way.
81 So Angels once a happy state could boast:
82 O the bright Glories of that shining Host!
83 But when th' Apostates fierce Rebellion dar'd:
84 Sin'd to be great, and with th' Almighty warr'd,
85 Vengeance Divine did soon the fact persue:
86 And from [i]Elysium
87 Our mis'ry then from [i]Adam
88 Begun too soon, and ending very late.
89 Life now does scarce one glimpse of light display;
90 We mourn in darkness, and Despair of day.
91 That [i]Nat'ral[i]Orient
92 Diminish'd looks, and now a Twilight seems:
93 A Miscellaneous Composition, made
94 Of Night, and Day, of Sun-shine, and of Shade.
95 Through an uncertain [i]Medium
96 And find that Falshood, which for Truth we took;
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97 So Rays projected from the Eastern Skies,
98 Shew the false Day, before the true can rise.
99 Unhappy Man who through successive years
100 To Life's last Ebb, from early Childhood Errs!
101 No sooner born, but proves a Foe to Truth:
102 For Infant Reason is o'er powr'd in Youth;
103 The Cheats of sense will half our Learning share:
104 And Preconceptions all our knowledge are.
105 Reason 'tis true, should over sense preside,
106 Correct our Notions and our Judgments guide;
107 But false Opinions, rooted in the mind
108 Hood-wink the Soul, and keep the Reason blind;
109 Reason's a Taper, which but faintly burns:
110 A Languid Flame that glows and dies by turns:
111 We see't a while, and but a little way
112 We travel by its Light, as Men by Day;
113 But quickly dying, it forsakes us soon;
114 Like Morning Stars that never stay till Noon.
115 The Soul can scarce above the body rise,
116 And all we see is with corporeal Eyes.
117 That little knowledge now which Man obtains,
118 From outward Objects, and from Sense, he gleans.
119 He, like the painful Bee, must plod and sweat:
120 By day must toil, by night that toil repeat;
121 And yet at last, what little Fruit he gains?
122 A Beggar's Harvest, glean'd with mighty pains.
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123 The Passions still predominant will rule:
124 Uncivil, rude, nor bred in Reason's School:
125 Our Understanding they with darkness fill,
126 Cause strange Conceptions, and pervert the Will.
127 On these the Soul, as on some flowing tide,
128 Must sit, and on the swelling Billows ride;
129 Hurry'd away, for how can be withstood
130 Th' Impetuous Torrent of the boyling blood?
131 Be gone false hopes, for all our Learning's vain,
132 Can we be free when these the rule maintain?
133 These are the tools of Knowledge which we use,
134 The spirits heated will strange things produce.
135 Tell me who e'er the Passions could controul,
136 Or from the body disengage the soul:
137 Till this is done, our best persuits are vain
138 To conquer Truth, and unmixt knowledge gain.
139 Custom the World's great Idol we adore:
140 And knowing this, we seek to know no more.
141 What Education did at first receive
142 Maturer Age confirms us to believe.
143 The careful Nurse, and Priest is all we need
144 To learn Opinions, and our Country's Creed;
145 The Parents precepts early are instill'd
146 And spoil the Man, while they instruct the Child.
147 To what hard Fate is Human-kind betray'd?
148 When thus Implicit Faith's a Vertue made;
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149 When Education more than Truth prevails
150 And nought is current but what Custom seals.
151 Thus from the time we first begin to know
152 We live and learn, but not the wiser grow;
153 We seldom use our liberty aright,
154 No Judge of things by Universal Light:
155 Our prepossessions and Affections bind
156 The Soul in Chains and lord it o'er the Mind.
157 And if self Int'rest be but in the case
158 Our unexamin'd Principles may pass.
159 Good God! that man should thus himself deceive,
160 To learn on Credit, and on Trust believe:
161 Better the Mind no Notions had retain'd,
162 But still a fair unwritten blank remain'd.
163 For now who Truth from Falshood would discern
164 Must first disrobe the Mind, and all unlearn:
165 Errors, contracted in unmindful Youth,
166 When once remov'd, will smooth the way for Truth:
167 To dispossess the [i]Child
168 But Death approaches e'er the [i]Man
169 Those who would Learning's glorious Kingdom find,
170 The dear bought purchase of the trading Mind:
171 From many dangers must themselves acquit,
172 And more than [i]Scylla[i]Charybdis
173 O what an Ocean must be Voyag'd o'er!
174 To gain a prospect of the shining shore:
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175 Resisting Rocks oppose the bounding Soul,
176 And adverse Waves retard it as they roll.
177 Does not that foolish deference we pay
178 To Men that liv'd long since, our passage stay?
179 O what prepost'rous paths at first we tread!
180 And learn to walk by stumbling on the Dead.
181 First we a blessing from the Grave implore,
182 Worship Old Urns, and Monuments adore:
183 The Rev'rend Sage with vast esteem we prize;
184 He liv'd long since, and must be wond'rous wise.
185 Thus are we Debtors to the famous Dead
186 For all those Errors which their Phancies bred,
187 Errors indeed! for real Knowledge stay'd
188 With those first times, nor farther was convey'd;
189 But light Opinions are much lower brought;
190 While on the Waves of Ignorance they float:
191 But solid Truth scarce ever gains the shore
192 So soon it sinks, and ne'r emerges more.
193 And now suppose this maze of dangers past:
194 Will Knowledge dawn, and bless the Mind at last
195 Ah! no, 'tis now environ'd from our Eyes,
196 Hides all its Charms, and undiscover'd lies.
197 Truth like a point or line escapes the sight
198 And claims Intention to perceive it right:
199 But what resembles Truth is soon descry'd,
200 Spread like a surface, and expanded wide:
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201 The first Man rarely, very rarely finds:
202 The tedious search of long inquiring Minds.
203 But yet what's worse, we know not when we err;
204 What mark does Truth, what bright distinction bear?
205 How do we know, that what we know is true?
206 How shall we falsehood fly, and truth persue?
207 Let none then here his certain knowledge boast,
208 'Tis all but probability at most:
209 This is the easie purchase of the Mind,
210 The Vulgar's Treasure, which we soon may find:
211 But Truth lies hid, and e'er we can explore
212 The glitt'ring Gem, our fleeting Life is o'er.
213 Through all the bulky Volumes of the Dead,
214 And through those Books which modern times have bred
215 The Soul may travel, as thro Moorish ground:
216 Where scarce one Useful Plant is ever found:
217 O'er-run with Errors, which so thick appear,
218 That searching Truth, we cannot find it there:
219 Bless'd Revelation but for thee we might
220 Have travel'd thro' a dark and tedious night;
221 Thy wond'rous force hath reach'd th' Imprison'd Mind,
222 And loos'd those Fetters, which her pow'rs did bind;
223 Now, now she's free, and can with Ease run o'er
224 Those obvious Truths so much perplex'd before
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225 Reason has little now to do but prove
226 That some most perfect Being rules above,
227 And this by little Inference we find:
228 'Tis plain; 'tis bright, 'tis written on the Mind.
229 If there's a God, it then must be believ'd
230 He's no Deceiver, nor can be deceiv'd;
231 And if he spake, as may be plainly prov'd;
232 Then truth prevails, and every doubt's remov'd.
233 Here then at last my weary'd Soul shall rest:
234 With Heav'nly light, and sacred knowledge blest.
235 And now methinks bright Angels round me stand,
236 And bid me welcome to a peaceful Land.
237 Methinks I'm lifted to an higher Sphere
238 Where all is mild, and all the Prospect clear:
239 From hence I can behold contending Schools,
240 Disputing Sects, Philosophers, and Fools;
241 Now I can each Hypothesis despise,
242 Laugh at Opinions, and be boldly wise:
243 No more, Ye [i]Dogmatists
244 My liss'ning Soul, no more my Reason charm;
245 No more you shall my Faculties controul:
246 Suspicion guards, and Doubt defends my Soul,
[i]Pomfret, John, 1667-1702