Browning and His CenturyClarke, Helen A. (Helen Archibald)
Philosophy
Browning and His Century
Clarke, Helen A. (Helen Archibald)
Browning, Robert, 1812-1889; Nineteenth century; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
"Say not we know but rather that we love,
And so we know enough." Thus deeply spoke
The Sage; and in men's stunted hearts awoke
A haunting fear, for fain are they to prove
Their life, their God, with yeas and nays that move
The mind's uncertain flow. Then fierce outbroke,--
Knowledge, the child of pain shall we revoke?
The guide wherewith men climb to things above?
Nay, calm your fears! 'Tis but the mere mind's knowing,
The soul's alone the poet worthy deeming.
Let mind up-build its entities of seeming
With toil and tears! The toil is but for showing
How much there lacks of truth. But 'tis no dreaming
When sky throbs back to heart, with God's love beaming.
I
THE BATTLE OF MIND AND SPIRIT
During the nineteenth century, which has already receded far enough into
the perspective of the past for us to be able to take a comprehensive view
of it, the advance guard of the human race found itself in a position
entirely different from that ever before occupied by it. Through the
knowledge of cosmic, animal, and social evolution gradually accumulated by
the laborious and careful studies of special students in every department
of historical research and scientific experiment, a broader and higher
state of self-consciousness was attained. Mankind, on its most perceptive
plane, no longer pinned its faith to inherited traditions, whether of
religion, art, or morals. Every conceivable fact and every conceivable
myth was to be tested in the laboratory of the intellect, even the
intellect itself was to undergo dissection, with the result that, once for
all, it has been decided what particular range of human knowledge lies
within the reach of mental perception, and what particular range of human
knowledge can be grasped only through spiritual perception.
Such a momentous decision as this in the history of thought has not been
reached without a long and protracted struggle extending back into the
early days of Christianity, nor, it may be said, is the harmony as yet
complete, for there are to-day, and perhaps always will be, human beings
whose consciousness is not fully orbed and who either seek their point of
equilibrium too entirely in the plane of mind or too entirely in the plane
of spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account