John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester - A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind lyrics

Were I (who to my cost already am One of those strange, prodigious creatures, man) 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, Or anything but that vain animal, Who is so proud of being rational. The senses are too gross, and he'll contrive A sixth, to contradict the other five, And before certain instinct, will prefer 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; Whilst the misguided follower climbs with pain Mountains of whimseys, heaped in his own brain; 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 To swim with bladders of philosophy; In hopes still to o'ertake th' escaping light; The vapour dances in his dazzling sight Till, spent, it leaves him to eternal night. Then old age and experience, hand in hand, Lead him to d**h, 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, Who was so proud, so witty, and so wise. Pride drew him in, as cheats their bubbles catch, And made him venture to be made a wretch. His wisdom did his happiness destroy, Aiming to know that world he should enjoy. And wit was his vain, frivolous pretense Of pleasing others at his own expense. For wits are treated just like common who*es: First they're enjoyed, and then kicked out of doors. The pleasure past, a threatening doubt remains That frights th' enjoyer with succeeding pains. Women and men of wit are dangerous tools, And ever fatal to admiring fools: Pleasure allures, and when the fops escape, 'Tis not that they're beloved, but fortunate, And therefore what they fear, at heart they hate. But now, methinks, some formal band and beard 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 Likes me abundantly; but you take care 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, But your grand indiscretion bids me stay 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 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; 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, And give the world true grounds of hope and fear.” Hold, mighty man, I cry, all this we know From the pathetic pen of Ingelo; From Patrick's Pilgrim, Sibbes' soliloquies, And 'tis this very reason I despise: This supernatural gift, that makes a mite 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 That frames deep mysteries, then finds 'em out, Filling with frantic crowds of thinking fools Those reverend bedlams, colleges and schools; Borne on whose wings, each heavy sot can pierce The limits of the boundless universe; So charming ointments make an old witch fly And bear a crippled carca** through the sky. 'Tis this exalted power, whose business lies In nonsense and impossibilities, This made a whimsical philosopher Before the spacious world, his tub prefer, And we have modern cloistered coxcombs who Retire to think cause they have nought to do. But thoughts are given for action's government; Where action ceases, thought's impertinent: Our sphere of action is life's happiness, And he that thinks beyond, thinks like an a**. Thus, whilst against false reasoning I inveigh, I own right reason, which I would obey: That reason which distinguishes by sense And gives us rules of good and ill from thence, That bounds desires, with a reforming will To keep 'em more in vigour, not to k**. Your reason hinders, mine helps to enjoy, Renewing appetites yours would destroy. 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: '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. For all his pride and his philosophy, 'Tis evident beasts are, in their own degree, 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 k**s the hares Better than Meres supplies committee chairs, 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, 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. Pressed by necessity, they k** 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, Inhumanly his fellow's life betrays; With voluntary pains works his distress, Not through necessity, but wantonness. For hunger or for love they fight and tear, Whilst wretched man is still in arms for fear. For fear he arms, and is of arms afraid, From fear, to fear successively betrayed; Base fear, the source whence his best pa**ions came: His boasted honor, and his dear-bought fame; The lust of power, to which he's such a slave, And for the which alone he dares be brave; To which his various projects are designed; Which makes him generous, affable, and kind; For which he takes such pains to be thought wise, And screws his actions in a forced disguise, Leading a tedious life in misery Under laborious, mean hypocrisy. Look to the bottom of his vast design, Wherein man's wisdom, power, and glory join: The good he acts, the ill he does endure, 'Tis all from fear, to make himself secure. Merely for safety, after fame we thirst, For all men would be cowards if they durst. And honesty's against all common sense: Men must be knaves, 'tis in their own defence. 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. 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, 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, Who, swollen with selfish vanity, devise False freedoms, holy cheats, and formal lies Over their fellow slaves to tyrannize. But if in Court so just a man there be (In Court, a just man, yet unknown to me) 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, Whose pa**ions 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, Receives close bribes through friends' corrupted hands— Is there a churchman who on God relies; Whose life, his faith and doctrine justifies? Not one blown up with vain prelatic pride, Who, for reproof of sins, does man deride; Whose envious heart makes preaching a pretense, With his obstreperous, saucy eloquence, To chide at kings, and rail at men of sense; None of that sensual tribe whose talents lie In avarice, pride, sloth, and gluttony; Who hunt good livings, but abhor good lives; Whose lust exalted to that height arrives They act adultery with their own wives, And ere a score of years completed be, Can from the lofty pulpit proudly see Half a large parish their own progeny; Nor doting bishop, who would be adored For domineering at the council board, A greater fop in business at fourscore, Fonder of serious toys, affected more, Than the gay, glittering fool at twenty proves With all his noise, his tawdry clothes, and loves; But a meek, humble man, of honest sense, Who preaching peace, does practice continence; Whose pious life's a proof he does believe Mysterious truths, which no man can conceive. 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: Man differs more from man, than man from beast.