Of Truth In Things False. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHCGIJKGCG GLMGNOGLOGPNGQRSGTOC QUG VWKQKXGRLQGGGUGYWZHG GA2OB2 GGHGTGGGQJC2C D2GE2T H| Error is a hardy plant it flourisheth in every soil | A |
| In the heart of the wise and good alike with the wicked and foolish | B |
| For there is no error so crooked but it hath in it some lines of truth | C |
| Nor is any poison so deadly that it serveth not some wholesome use | D |
| And the just man enamoured of the right is blinded by the speciousness of wrong | E |
| And the prudent perceiving an advantage is content to overlook the harm | F |
| On all thuigs created remaineth the half effaced signature of God | G |
| Somewhat of fair and good though blotted by the finger of corruption | H |
| And if error cometh in like a flood it mixeth with streams of truth | C |
| And the Adversary loveth to have it so for thereby many are decoyed | G |
| Providence is dark in its permissions yet one day when all is known | I |
| The universe of reason shall acknowledge how just and good were they | J |
| For the wise man leaneth on his wisdom and the righteous trusteth to his righteousness | K |
| And those who thirst for independence are suffered to drink of disappointment | G |
| Wherefore to prove and humble them and to teach the idolaters of Truth | C |
| That it is but the ladder unto Him on whom only they should trust | G |
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| There is truth in the wildest scheme that imaginative heat hath engendered | G |
| And a man may gather somewhat from the crudest theories of fancy | L |
| The alchymist laboureth in folly but catcheth chance gleams of wisdom | M |
| And findeth out many inventions though his crucible breed not gold | G |
| The sinner toying with witchcraft thinketh to delude his fellows | N |
| But there be very spirits of evil and what if they come at his bidding | O |
| He is a bold bad man who dareth to tamper with the dead | G |
| For their whereabout lieth in a mystery that vestibule leaduig to Eternity | L |
| The waiting room for unclad ghosts before the presence chamber of their King | O |
| Mind may act upon mind though bodies be far divided | G |
| For the life is in the blood but souls communicate unseen | P |
| And the heat of an excited intellect radiating to its fellows | N |
| Doth kindle dry leaves afar off while the green wood around it is unwarmed | G |
| The dog may have a spirit as well as his brutal master | Q |
| A spirit to have in happiness for why should he be robbed of his existence | R |
| Hath he not a conscience of evil a glimmer of moral sense | S |
| Love and hatred courage and fear and visible shame and pride | G |
| There may be a future rest for the patient victims of the cruel | T |
| And a season allotted for their bliss to compensate for unjust suffering | O |
| Spurn not at seeming error but dig below its surface for the truth | C |
| And beware of seeming truths that grow on the roots of error | Q |
| For comely are the apples that spring from the Dead Sea's cursed shore | U |
| But within are they dust and ashes and the hand that plucked them shall rue it | G |
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| A frequent similar effect argueth a constant cause | V |
| Yet who hath counted the links that hind an omen to its issue | W |
| Who hath expounded the law that rendereth calamities gregarious | K |
| Pressing down with yet more woes the heavy laden mourner | Q |
| Who knoweth wherefore a monsoon should swell the sails of the prosperous | K |
| Blithely speeding on their course the children of good luck | X |
| Who hath companied a vision from the horn or ivory gate | G |
| Or met another's mind in his and explained its presence | R |
| There is a secret somewhat in antipathies and love is more than fancy | L |
| Yea and a palpable notice warneth of an instant danger | Q |
| For the soul hath its feelers cobwebs floating on the wind | G |
| That catch events in their approach with sure and apt presentiment | G |
| So that some halo of attraction heraldeth a coming friend | G |
| Investing in his likeness the stranger that passed on before | U |
| And while the word is in thy mouth behold thy word fulfilled | G |
| And he of whom we spake can answer for himself | Y |
| O man little hast thou learnt of truth in things most true | W |
| How therefore shall thy blindness wot of truth in things most false | Z |
| Thou hast not yet perceived the causes of life or motion | H |
| How then canst thou define the subtle sympathies of mind | G |
| For the spirit sharpest and strongest when disease hath rent the body | G |
| Hath welcomed kindred spirits in nightly visitations | A2 |
| Or learnt from restless ghosts dark secrets of the living | O |
| And helped slow justice to her prey by the dreadful teaching of a dream | B2 |
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| Verily there is nothing so true that the damps of error have not warped it | G |
| Verily there is nothing so false that a sparkle of truth is not in it | G |
| For the enemy the father of Lies the giant Upas of creation | H |
| Whose deadly shade hath blasted this once green garden of the Lord | G |
| Can but prevert the good but may not create the evil | T |
| He destroyeth but cannot build for he is not antagonist deity | G |
| Mighty is his stolen power yet is he a creature and a subject | G |
| Not a maker of abstract wrong but a spoiler of concrete right | G |
| The fiend hath not a royal crown he is but a prowling robber | Q |
| Suffered for some mysterious end to haunt the King's highway | J |
| And the keen sword he beareth once was a simple ploughshare | C2 |
| Yea and his panoply of error is but a distortion of the truth | C |
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| The sickle that once reaped righteousness beaten from its useful curve | D2 |
| With axe and spike and bar headeth the marauder's halbert | G |
| Seek not further O man to solve the dark riddle of sin | E2 |
| Suffice it that thine own bad heart is to thee thine origin of evil | T |
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| Transcribed from Proverbial Philosophy by Mick Puttock Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition | H |
Martin Farquhar Tupper
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Of Truth In Things False. From Proverbial Philosophy is a poem by Martin Farquhar Tupper. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.