United States or Dominica ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Obest plerumque iis, qui discere volunt, auctoritas eorum, qui docent." It is good to make him, like a young horse, trot before him, that he may judge of his going, and how much he is to abate of his own speed, to accommodate himself to the vigour and capacity of the other.
Here you see the mere opposition of the terms produces a verse; but in prosaic composition, the proper form of the last line would be, quod scis nihil prodest; quod nescis multum obest. This contrasting of opposite circumstances, which the Greeks call an Antithesis, will necessarily produce what is styled rhetorical metre, even without our intending it.
Quid enim prodest clavis aurea, si aperire quod volumus non potest? Aut quid obest lignea, si hoc potest, quando nihil quærimus, nisi parere quod clausum est? Sed quoniam inter se habent nonnullam similitudinem vescentes atque discentes, propter fastidia plurimorum etiam ipsa sine quibus vivi non potest alimenta condienda sunt." See the excellent chapter on Isaiah's style in Driver's Isaiah.
Her, whom you ne'er accus'd, you now condemn; Bene quam meritam esse autumas, dicis male mereri, Her merit, once confess'd, you now deny; and, Id quod scis, prodest nihil; id quod nescis, obest, From what you've learnt no real good accrues, But ev'ry ill your ignorance pursues.
"Eam, quam nihil accusas, damnas." A man would say condemnas if he wished to avoid making a verse. "Bene quam meritam esse autumas, dicis male mereri. Id, quod scis, prodest nihil; id, quod nescis, obest." The very relation of the contrary effects makes a verse that would be harmonious in a narration. "Quod scis, nihil prodest; quod nescis, multum obest."
Word Of The Day