Rochester, "A Satyr against Reason and Mankind"


Were I (who to my cost already am
One of those strange, prodigious° creatures, man)		monstrous
A spirit free to choose, for my own share
What case of flesh and blood I pleased to wear,
I’d be a dog, a monkey, or a bear, [5]
Or anything but that vain animal,
Who is so proud of being rational.
The senses are too gross,° and he’ll contrive°		crude — invent
A sixth, to contradict the other five,
And before certain instinct, will prefer [10]
Reason, which fifty times for one does err;
Reason, an ignis fatuus of the mind,
Which, leaving light of nature, sense, behind,
Pathless and dangerous wand’ring ways it takes
Through error’s fenny° bogs and thorny brakes;° [15]		swampy — thickets
Whilst the misguided follower climbs with pain
Mountains of whimseys,° heaped in his own brain;		strange imaginings
Stumbling from thought to thought, falls headlong down
Into doubt’s boundless sea where, like to drown,
Books bear him up awhile, and make him try [20]
To swim with bladders° of philosophy;		floats
In hopes still to o’ertake th’ escaping light;
The vapour dances in his dazzling° sight		overwhelmed
Till, spent,° it leaves him to eternal night.		burnt out
Then old age and experience, hand in hand, [25]
Lead him to death, and make him understand,
After a search so painful and so long,
That all his life he has been in the wrong.
Huddled in dirt the reasoning engine° lies,		human mind
Who was so proud, so witty, and so wise. [30]
Pride drew him in, as cheats their bubbles° catch,		dupes
And made him venture° to be made a wretch.		try
His wisdom did his happiness destroy,
Aiming to know that world he should enjoy.
And wit° was his vain,° frivolous pretense [35]		intelligence — pointless
Of pleasing others at his own expense.
For wits are treated just like common whores:
First they’re enjoyed, and then kicked out of doors.
The pleasure past, a threatening doubt remains
That frights th’ enjoyer with succeeding° pains. [40]		following
Women and men of wit are dangerous tools,
And ever fatal to admiring fools:
Pleasure allures, and when the fops° escape,		fashionably dressed men
’Tis not that they’re beloved, but fortunate,
And therefore what they fear, at heart they hate. [45]
But now, methinks,° some formal band° and beard		it seems — preist’s collar
Takes me to task. Come on, sir; I’m prepared.
“Then, by your favor, anything that’s writ
Against this gibing,° jingling knack called wit		sneering
Likes me° abundantly; but you take care [50]		I like
Upon this point, not to be too severe.
Perhaps my muse were fitter for this part,
For I profess I can be very smart
On wit, which I abhor with all my heart.
I long to lash° it in some sharp essay, [55]		attack
But your grand indiscretion bids° me stay		requests
And turns my tide of ink another way.
“What rage ferments in your degenerate mind
To make you rail at reason and mankind?
Blest, glorious man! to whom alone kind heaven [60]
An everlasting soul has freely given,
Whom his great Maker took such care to make
That from himself he did the image take
And this fair frame in shining reason dressed
To dignify his nature above beast; [65]
Reason, by whose aspiring influence
We take a flight beyond material sense,
Dive into mysteries, then soaring pierce
The flaming limits of the universe,
Search heaven and hell, Find out what’s acted there, [70]
And give the world true grounds of hope and fear.”
Hold,° mighty man, I cry, all this we know		stop
From the pathetic pen of Ingelo;
From Patrick’s Pilgrim, Sibbes’ soliloquies,
And ’tis this very reason I despise: [75]
This supernatural gift, that makes a mite°		tiny insect
Think he’s an image of the infinite,
Comparing his short life, void of all rest,
To the eternal and the ever blest;
This busy, puzzling° stirrer-up of doubt [80]		confusing
That frames° deep mysteries, then finds ’em out,		constructs
Filling with frantic crowds of thinking fools
Those reverend bedlams,° colleges and schools;		insane asylums
Borne on whose wings, each heavy sot° can pierce		idiot
The limits of the boundless universe; [85]
So charming ointments make an old witch fly
And bear a crippled carcass through the sky.
’Tis this exalted power, whose business lies
In nonsense and impossibilities,
This made a whimsical philosopher [90]
Before° the spacious world, his tub prefer,		more than
And we have modern cloistered° coxcombs° who		walled up — conceited fools
Retire° to think ’cause they have nought to do.		go away
But thoughts are given for action’s government;°		control
Where action ceases, thought’s impertinent: [95]
Our sphere of action is life’s happiness,
And he that thinks beyond, thinks like an ass.
Thus, whilst° against false reasoning I inveigh,°		while — criticize
I own° right reason, which I would obey:		acknowledge
That reason which distinguishes by sense [100]
And gives us rules of good and ill from thence,°		there
That bounds desires, with a reforming will
To keep ’em more in vigour, not to kill.
Your reason hinders, mine helps to enjoy,
Renewing appetites° yours would destroy. [105]		desires
My reason is my friend, yours is a cheat;
Hunger calls out, my reason bids me eat;
Perversely, yours your appetite does mock:
This asks for food, that answers, “What’s o’clock?”
This plain distinction, sir, your doubt secures: [110]
’Tis not true reason I despise, but yours.
Thus I think reason righted, but for man,
I’ll ne’er recant;° defend him if you can.		give in
For all his pride and his philosophy,
’Tis evident beasts are, in their own degree, [115]
As wise at least, and better far than he.
Those creatures are the wisest who attain,
By surest means, the ends at which they aim.
If therefore Jowler° finds and kills the hares		(a dog’s name)
Better than Meres supplies committee chairs, [120]
Though one’s a statesman, th’ other but a hound,
Jowler, in justice, would be wiser found.
You see how far man’s wisdom here extends;
Look next if human nature makes amends:
Whose principles most generous are, and just, [125]
And to whose morals you would sooner trust.
Be judge yourself, I’ll bring it to the test:
Which is the basest creature, man or beast?
Birds feed on birds, beasts on each other prey,
But savage man alone does man betray. [130]
Pressed by necessity, they kill for food;
Man undoes man to do himself no good.
With teeth and claws by nature armed, they hunt
Nature’s allowance, to supply their want.
But man, with smiles, embraces, friendship, praise, [135]
Inhumanly his fellow’s life betrays;
With voluntary pains works his distress,
Not through necessity, but wantonness.°		whims
For hunger or for love they fight and tear,
Whilst° wretched man is still in arms for fear. [140]		while
For fear he arms, and is of arms afraid,
From fear, to fear successively betrayed;
Base fear, the source whence his best passions came:
His boasted honor, and his dear-bought fame;
The lust of power, to which he’s such a slave, [145]
And for the which alone he dares be brave;
To which his various projects are designed;
Which makes him generous, affable,° and kind;		likable
For which he takes such pains to be thought wise,
And screws° his actions in a forced disguise, [150]		contorts
Leading a tedious life in misery
Under laborious, mean hypocrisy.
Look to the bottom of his vast design,°		plan
Wherein man’s wisdom, power, and glory join:
The good he acts, the ill° he does endure, [155]		evil
’Tis all from fear, to make himself secure.
Merely for safety, after fame we thirst,
For all men would be cowards if they durst.°		dared
And honesty’s against all common sense:
Men must be knaves, ’tis in their own defence. [160]
Mankind’s dishonest; if you think it fair
Among known cheats to play upon the square,
You’ll be undone.
Nor can weak truth your reputation save:
The knaves will all agree to call you knave. [165]
Wronged shall he live, insulted o’er, oppressed,
Who dares be less a villain than the rest.
Thus sir, you see what human nature craves:
Most men are cowards, all men should be knaves.
The difference lies, as far as I can see, [170]
Not in the thing itself, but the degree,
And all the subject matter of debate
Is only: Who’s a knave of the first rate?
All this with indignation have I hurled
At the pretending part of the proud world, [175]
Who, swollen with selfish vanity, devise°		invent
False freedoms, holy cheats, and formal lies
Over their fellow slaves to tyrannize.
But if in Court so just a man there be°		there happens to be
(In Court, a just man, yet unknown to me) [180]
Who does his needful flattery direct,
Not to oppress and ruin, but protect
(Since flattery, which way soever laid,
Is still a tax on that unhappy trade);
If so upright a statesman you can find, [185]
Whose passions bend to his unbiased mind,
Who does his arts and policies apply
To raise his country, not his family,
Nor, whilst his pride owned° avarice withstands,		admitted
Receives close bribes through friends’ corrupted hands— [190]
Is there a churchman who on God relies;
Whose life, his faith and doctrine justifies?
Not one blown up with vain prelatic° pride,		priestly
Who, for reproof of sins, does man deride;°		insult
Whose envious heart makes preaching a pretense, [195]
With his obstreperous,° saucy eloquence,		unruly
To chide° at kings, and rail° at men of sense;		scold — make fun of
None of that sensual tribe° whose talents lie		people who care about pleasures of the senses
In avarice, pride, sloth, and gluttony;
Who hunt good livings, but abhor good lives; [200]
Whose lust exalted° to that height arrives		raised up
They act adultery with their own wives,
And ere° a score° of years completed be,		before — twenty
Can from the lofty pulpit proudly see
Half a large parish their own progeny; [205]
Nor doting° bishop, who would be adored		foolish
For domineering at the council board,
A greater fop° in business at fourscore,°		idiot — eighty years old
Fonder of serious toys,° affected more,		trivia
Than the gay,° glittering fool at twenty proves [210]		carefree
With all his noise, his tawdry° clothes, and loves;		cheap
But a meek, humble man, of honest sense,
Who preaching peace, does practice continence;°		moderation
Whose pious life’s a proof he does believe
Mysterious truths, which no man can conceive. [215]
If upon earth there dwell such God-like men,
I’ll here recant my paradox to them,
Adore those shrines of virtue, homage pay,
And, with the rabble world, their laws obey.
If such there be, yet grant me this at least: [220]
Man differs more from man, than man from beast.

A Satyr against Reason and Mankind

By John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

Edited and annotated by Jack Lynch

Notes