One finds in it Both mirth and wit, Tempered by love, and so made fit To wake attention, sympathy move, I don't deny HASTY. Which you in wit and humor descry: I don't deny, in certain cases, At certain times, in certain places, Yielding, indeed, abundant honey, Being, that is, extremely funny; But soon their power malign they reveal, OLDHAM. Well, now I see We may agree; admit in common with me, That wit and humor-the genuine kind, Of humor true? Certainly, you Will not take this illogical view. Fearing a sting, will you taste no honey? Hegesias* like, who life belied, The vital cord by which you are tied? I do not say One never may HASTY. The power of humor, in reason, display: "Tis quite impossible; so, you see, One cannot the fountain of knowledge quaff, * This old philosopher was very appropriately called Пɛισibávatos, that is, the "Advocate of Death"! He carried the views of the Cyrenaïc sect to the most absurd excess: arguing, that death is to be preferred to life, because in life we are constantly exposed to evil. He is said to have been very eloquent in the maintenance of this doctrine; so eloquent, indeed, that many of his hearers, under a profound conviction of its truth, sought to escape the evils which he had so vividly pictured, by committing suicide! Ptolemy, the reigning monarch, judged it expedient to order him into exile. What, then, should be done with those who, Hegesias like, would banish humor from the schools? OLDHAM. "Always," my Friend? Your ears pray lend! Do wait an attack before you defend. Don't build up a man of straw, and crown Or wit, or humor, or mirth, or pun? Nine-tenths of all Branches that fall, In what a scholastic course we call. You seem t' imagine the whole school day Consumed, in a sort of mongrel way, On something that's neither work nor play. Your fruitful fancy figures, perhaps, Geographies humorous, humorous maps,Blackboards humorous,-humorous slates,Humorous chronological dates,- Algebras humorous,--humorous Grammars;— Might as well talk of humorous hammers! The fact is, sir, You sadly err In this presuming way to infer, That this new book, which scarce you have seen, Is but a sort of laughing machine, Very well fitted, if not designed, To beget a light and trivial mind. Thus you lose sight of my well-meant aim; Which often settles o'er heart and head, HASTY. Well, in that view, For I'm prepared to affirm with you, That schools, above all other places, Should ever be free from gloomy faces. But, in raising mirth, you cannot show Too much precaution; for well you know, That, though the good we should seek after, There's every sort and kind of laughter. For instance, the laugh of childish mirth,The freest expression of joy on earth; The laugh of folly, the laugh of pride, The laugh of scorn, which evil betide! The laugh mechanical—all outside, And a hundred other laughs beside. |