Monday, October 20, 2008

Old Wisdom

We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so.
Once School-divines this zealous isle o'er-spread;
Who knew most Sentences, was deepest read;
Faith, Gospel, all, seemed made to be disputed,
And none had sense enough to be confuted:
Scotists and Thomists, now, in peace remain,
Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck-lane.*


--Pope, An Essay on Criticism

*Old London second-hand book district

4 comments:

Lee Faber said...

They cannot conquer forever

Lee Faber said...

So there really was a concordantia Scotae et Thomae after all.

Michael Sullivan said...

I just listened to that passage on my walk yesterday!

Truly can it be said of Scotus' corpus that The years had gnawed it, and violent hands had maimed it. Its head was gone, and in its place was set in mockery a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted by savage hands in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in the midst of its forehead. Upon its knees and mighty chair, and all about the pedestal, were idle scrawls mixed with the foul symbols that the maggot-folk of Mordor used.

Lee Faber said...

I bet the idle scrawls contain the word "difference" and "margin"