Classic Poem

The law by which each mundane thing
Its pristine bulk and shape attained,
The peg whereon this earthly ring
By thoughtful Zeus was made to cling,
For fear it should perchance be strained,—
A real genius I proclaim
The man who can announce its name,
Unless I choose to aid his ken—
'Tis: Twelve is different from Ten.

Snow makes us cold, a fire is hot,
Upon two feet a mortal goes,
Across the sky the sun doth trot,
And, knowing logic ne'er a jot,
All this a man by reason knows.
But he who Metaphysics learns
Knows that what freezes never burns,
That wet is wet, and dry is dry,
That bright is bright can testify.

His noble epic Homer sings,
The hero is by peril cheered,
The valiant man to duty springs—
And did so long before such things
As the Philosophers appeared.
The heart and genius have wrought
What Locke and Descartes never thought,
Such do their instincts only move
The possibilities to prove.

In life the strong is ever right,
The weak must feel the mighty's rage;
Who rules not is a slavish wight;
Else things were in a sorry plight
Upon this little earthly stage.
Yet what would happen could we scan
Now in its birth the cosmic plan,
From moral systems may be gained,
And everything at once explained.

“Man stands in need of human aid
To compass his appointed goal;
On the large scale he loves to trade,
Of many drops the sea is made,
Whole torrents through the mill-wheel roll.
So flies the wolf's ferocious brood
And states renounce internal feud.”
Thus Puffendorf and Feder teach,
And “ex cathedrâ” love to preach.

Yet since the professorial saw
To some will e'er appeal in vain,
Nature takes heed that not a flaw
Shall mar the chain, and by her law
Bids ripening fruit its hold retain.
Till, then, philosophy succeeds
The world in ruling with its creeds,
Its motive power she supplies
By hunger and by lovers' sighs.