Of Indirect Influences. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme

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Face thy foe in the field and perchance thou wilt meet thy master	A
For the sword is chained to his wrist and his armour buckled for the battle	B
But find him when he looketh not for thee aim between the joints of his harness	C
And the crest of his pride will be humbled his cruelty will bite the dust	D
Beard not a lion in his den but fashion the secret pitfall	E
So shalt thou conquer the strong thyself triumphing in weakness	C
The hurricane rageth fiercely and the promontory standeth in its might	F
Breasting the artillery of heaven as darts glance from the crocodile	G
But the small continual creeping of the silent footsteps of the sea	H
Mineth the wall of adamant and stealthily compasseth its ruin	I
The weakness of accident is strong where the strength of design is weak	J
And a casual analogy convinceth when a mind heareth not argument	K
Will not a man listen be silent and prove thy maxim by example	B
Never fear thou losest not thy hold though thy mouth doth not render a reason	I
Contend not in wisdom with a fool for thy sense maketh much of his conceit	L
And some errors never would have thriven had it not been for learned refutation	I
Yea much evil hath been caused by an honest wrestler for truth	M
And much of unconscious good by the man that hated wisdom	N
For the intellect judgeth closely and if thou overstep thy arguement	L
Or seem not consistent with thyself or fail in thy direct purpose	C
The mind that went along with thee shall stop and return without thee	H
And thou shalt have raised a foe where thou mightest have won a friend	L
	-
Hints shrewdly strown mightily disturb the spirit	L
Where a bare faced accusation would be too ridiculous for calumny	H
The sly suggestion toucheth nerves and nerves contract the fronds	O
And the sensitive mimosa of affection trembleth to its root	L
And friendships the growth of half a century those oaks that laugh at storms	P
Have been cankered in a night by a wonn even as the prophet's gourd	L
Hast thou loved and not known jealousy for a sidelong look	Q
Can please or pain thy heart more than the multitude of proofs	R
Hast thou hated and not learned that thy silent scorn	S
Doth deeper aggravate thy foe than loud cursing malice	C
A wise man prevaileth in power for he screeneth his battering engine	I
But a fool tilteth headlong and his adversary is aware	T
	-
Behold those broken arches that oriel all unglazed	L
That crippled line of columns bleaching in the sun	I
The delicate shaft stricken midway and the flying buttress	C
Idly stretching forth to hold up tufted ivy	H
Thinkest thou the thousand eyes that shine with rapture on a ruin	I
Would have looked with half their wonder on the perfect pile	G
And wherefore not but that light hints suggesting unseen beauties	U
Fill the complacent gazer with self grown conceits	U
And so the rapid sketch winneth more praise to the painter	A
Than the consummate work elaborated on his easel	B
And so the Helvetic lion caverned in the living rock	V
Hath more of majesty and force than if upon a marble pedestal	B
	-
Tell me daughter of taste what hath charmed thine ear in music	W
Is it the laboured theme the curious fugue or cento	L
Nor rather the sparkles of intelligence flashing from some strange note	L
Or the soft melody of sounds far sweeter for simphcity	L
Tell me thou son of science what hath filled thy mind in reading	X
Is it the volume of detail where all is orderly set down	Y
And they that read may run nor need to stop and think	Z
The book carefully accurate that counteth thee no better than a fool	A2
Gorging the passive mind with annotated notes	U
Nor rather the half suggested thoughts the riddles thou mayst solve	B2
The fair ideas coyly peeping like young loves out of roses	U
The quaint arabesque conceptions half cherub and half flower	A
The light analogy or deep allusion trusted to thy learning	X
The confidence implied in thy skill to unravel meaning mysteries	U
For ideas are ofttimes shy of the close furniture of words	U
And thought wherein only is power may be best conveyed by a suggestion	I
The flash that lighteth up a valley amid the dark midnight of a storm	C2
Coineth the mind with that scene sharper than fifty summers	U
	-
A worldly man boasteth in his pride that there is no power but of money	H
And he judgeth the characters of men by the difiering measures of their means	U
He stealeth all goodly names as worth and value and substance	U
Which be the ancient heritage of Virtue but such an one ascribeth unto Wealth	D2
He spurneth the needy sage whose wisdom hath enriched nations	U
And the sons of poverty and learning without whom earth were a desert	L
Music the soother of cares the tuner of the dank discordant heart strings	U
It is nought unto such an one but sounds whereby some earn their living	X
The poem and the picture and the statue to him seem idle baubles	U
Which wealth condescendeth to favour to gain him the name of patron	I
But little wotteth he the might of the means his folly despiseth	D2
He considereth not that these he the wires which move the puppets of the world	L
A sentence hath formed a character and a character subdued a kingdom	N
A picture hath ruined souls or raised them to commerce with the skies	U
The pen hath shaken nations and stablished the world in peace	U
And the whole full horn of plenty been filled from the vial of science	U
He regardeth man as sensual the monarch of created matter	A
And careth not aught for mind that linketh him with spirits unseen	E2
He feedeth his carcase and is glad though his soul be faint and famished	L
And the dull brute power of the body bindeth him a captive to himself	F2
Man liveth from hour to hour and knoweth not what may happen	I
Influences circle him on all sides and yet must he answer for his actions	U
For the being that is master of himself bendeth events to his will	G2
But a slave to selfish passion is the wavering creature of circumstance	U
To this man temptation is a poison to that man it addeth vigour	A
And each may render to himself influences good or evil	B
As thou directest the power harm or advantage will follow	H2
And the torrent that swept the valley may be led to turn a mill	G2
The wild electric flash that could have kindled comets	U
May by the ductile wire give ease to an ailing child	L
For outward matter or event fashion not the character within	I2
But each man yielding or resisting fashioneth his mind for himself	F2
	-
Some have said What is in a name most potent plastic influence	U
A name is a word of character and repetition stablisheth the fact	L
A word of rebuke or of honour tending to obscurity or fame	J2
And greatest is the power of a mean when its power is least suspected	L
A low name is a thorn in the side that hindereth the footman in his running	X
But a name of ancestral renown shall often put the racer to his speed	L
Few men have grown unto greatness whose names are allied to ridicule	A2
And many would never have been profligate but for the splendour of a name	J2
A wise man scorneth nothing be it never so small or homely	H
For he knoweth not the secret laws that may bind it to great effects	U
The world in its boyhood was credidous and dreaded the vengeance of the stars	U
The world in its dotage is not wiser fearing not the influence of small things	U
Planets govern not the soul nor guide the destinies of man	K2
But trifles lighter than straws are levers in the building up of character	A
A man hath the tiller in his hand and may steer against the current	L
Or may glide down idly with the stream till his vessel founder in the whirlpool	A2
	-
	-
Transcribed from Proverbial Philosophy by Mick Puttock August Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition	I

Martin Farquhar Tupper

Of Indirect Influences. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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