For every why he had a wherefore :
Knew more than forty of them do,
As far as words and terms could go;
All which he understood by rote,
And, as occasion serv'd, would quote;
No matter whether right or wrong,
They might be either said or sung.
His notions fitted things so well,

That which was which he could not tell,
But oftentimes mistook the one

For th' other, as great clerks have done.
He could reduce all things to acts,

And knew their natures by abstracts;
Where entity and quiddity,

The ghosts of defunct bodies, fly;
Where truth in person does appear,
Like words congeal'd in northern air.
He knew what's what, and that's as high
As metaphysic wit can fly.

In school-divinity as able
As he that hight Irrefragable;
A second Thomas, or at once
To name them all, another Dunce.
Profound in all the nominal

And real ways beyond them all;

Comme quarante, il en savait,
Aussi loin que parole allait;

Cotant tout cela par routine,

Tout comme, ou mieux, qu'une machine; Et son jargon était noté,

Pour être dit, ou bien chanté.

Si bien les choses aux idées

Dans sa tête étaient adaptées, (21)
Que l'un pour l'autre bien souvent
Il prenait, comme maint savant.
A des faits réduisait les choses,
Et par abstraits faisait leurs gloses;
Savait où va la quiddité,

Des corps morts l'ame, et l'entité; (22)
Où la vérité se décèle,

Comme un mot gelé, qui dégèle. (23)
Distinguait ceci de cela,
Métaphysique en reste là. (24)
Avec succès ce grand génie
S'exerçait en théologie

Comme Thomas d'Aquin et plus, (25)
C'était un second Duns Scotus;
Dans les nominaux, ainsi comme (26)
Dans les réaux, le plus grand homme.
De sable une corde il tordait
Mieux que le sorbonniste adroit. (27)
Filait des toiles d'araignées,

Meubles pour têtes mal timbrées,

For he a rope of sand could twist
As tough as learned Sorbonist;
And weave fine cobwebs, fit for scull
That's empty when the moon is full;
Such as take lodgings in a head
That's to be let unfurnished.

He could raise scruples dark and nice,
And after solve 'em in a trice,
As if divinity had catch'd

The itch, on purpose to be scratch'd;
Or, like a mountebank, did wound
And stab herself with doubts profound,
Only to shew with how small pain
The sores of faith are cur'd again;
Altho' by woful proof we find
They always leave a scar behind.
He knew the seat of paradise,
Could tell in what degree it lies,

And, as he was dispos'd, could prove it,
Below the moon, or else above it.

What Adam dreamt of, when his bride
Came from her closet in his side;
Whether the devil tempted her
By a high dutch interpreter;
If either of them had a navel;

Vides quand la lune est au plein,

Comme maison pour qui l'on craint.
Il imaginait un scrupule,

Puis en montrait le ridicule,
Comme qui s'en irait gagner

La gale, exprès pour se gratter;
Comme si la théologie

D'un charlatan eût la manie,
Se perçant de doutes exprès,
Pour faire voir à tous après,
De quelle façon prompte et sûre
La foi guérit de sa blessure;
On a pourtant vu de nos jours
Que la marque y restait toujours.
Il connaissait la longitude,
Aussi bien que la latitude
Du paradis, et le plaçait, (28)
Selon l'humeur dont il était,
Dessous, ou par dessus la lune,
Dédaignant la façon commune,
Se piquant ordinairement
D'être seul de son sentiment.
D'Adam il sut quel fut le rêve,
Quand son épouse, madame Eve,

Sortit dans toute sa beauté

Du cabinet de son côté.

Il savait de quel vieux langage

Le tentateur faisait usage;

Who first made music malleable;
Whether the serpent, at the fall,
Had cloven feet, or none at all.
All this, without a gloss or comment,
He could unriddle in a moment,

In proper terms, such as men smatter
When they throw out and miss the matter.

For his religion, it was fit

To match his learning and his wit: 'Twas presbyterian true blue,

For he was of that stubborn crew

Of errant saints, whom all men grant
To be the true church militant;
Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun;
Decide all controversies by
Infallible artillery;

And prove their doctrine orthodox
By apostolic blows and knocks;
Call fire, and sword, and desolation,
A godly thorough reformation,
Which always must be carried on,
And still be doing, never done: