Ulver - The Argument
Album:
(plates 7-10)In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy, drive your cart and
your plow over the bones of the dead, the road of excess leads to the
palace of wisdom. Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by incapacity.
He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence. The cut worm forgives the
plow. Dip him in the river who loves water. A fool sees not the same tree
that a wise man sees. He whose face gives no light, shall never become a
star. Eternity is in love with the productions of time. The busy bee has
no time for sorrow. The hours of folly are measur'd by the clock; but of
wisdom, no clock can measure. All wholsom food is caught without a net or
a trap. Bring out number, weight & measure in a year of dearth. No bird
soars too high, if he soars with his own wings. A dead body revenges not
injuries. The most sublime act is to set another before you. If the fool
would persist in his folly, he would become wise. Folly is the cloke of
knavery. Shame is pride's cloke. Prisons are built with stones of law,
brothers with bricks of religion. The pride of the peacock is the glory of
God. The lust of the goat is the bounty of God. The wrath of the lion is
the wisdom of God. The nakedness of woman is the work of God. Excess of
sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps. The roaring of lions, the howling of
wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are
portions of eternity too great for the eye of man. The fox condemns the
trap, not himself. Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth. Let man wear the
feel of the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep. The bird a nest, the
spider a web, man friendship. The selfish smiling fool,& the sullen,
frowning fool shall be thought wise, that they may be a rod. What is now
proved was only once imagin'd. The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbet
watch the roots; the lion the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the
fruits. The cistern contains: the fountain overflows. One thought fills
immensity, always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid
you. Every thing possible to be beliv'd is an image of truth. The eagle
never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow. The
fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion. Think in the
morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. He who
has suffer'd you to impose on him knows you. As the plow follows words, so
God rewards prayers. The tygers of wrath are the wiser than the horses of
instruction. Expect poison from the standing water. You never know what is
enough unless you know what is more than enough. Listen to the fool's
reproach! It is a kingly title! The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air, the
mouth of water, the beard of earth. The weak in courage is strong in
cunning. The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow; nor the
lion, the horse, how he shall take his pray. The thankful receiver bears a
plentiful harvest. If others had not been foolish, we should be so. The
soul of sweet delight can never be defil'd. When thou seest an eagle, thou
seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head! As the caterpiller chooses
the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on. So the priest lays his curse on the
fairest joys. To create a little flower is the labour of ages. Damn
braces: bless relaxes. The best wine is the oldest, the best water the
newest. Prayers plow not! Joys laugh not! Sorrows weep not! The head
sublime, the heart pathos, the genitals beauty, the hands & feet
proportion. As the air to bird or the sea to fish, so is contempt to the
contemptible. The crow wish'd every thing was black, the owl that every
thing was white. Exuberance is beauty. If the lion was advised by the fox,
he would be cunning. Improve (me) nt makes strait road; but the crooked
roads without improvement are roads of genius. Sooner murder an infant in
its cradle than nurse unacted desires. Where man is not, nature is barren.
Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be beliv'd.
Enough! Or too much.
(plate 11)
The ancient poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or geniuses.
Calling them by names and adoring them with the properties of woods,
rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged and
numerous senses could perceive. And particulary they studied the genius of
each city & country, placing it under its mental deity; till a system was
formed, which some took advantage of,& enslav'd the vulgar by attempting
to realize or abstract the mental deities from their objects: thus began
priesthood; choosing forms of worship from poetic tales. And it length
they pronounc'd that the gods had order'd such things. Thus men forgot
that all deities reside in the human breast.