v. An essay on the Choice of Company, in five paragraphs: The danger of unknown company in a house—the good only are proper objects of charity—friendship not trustworthy until tested by adversity—the humble can only be defiled by contact with the proud—like will to like, and riches cannot consort with poverty.
vi. This essay is founded upon the old conception of society by which the educated formed a separate class—here called 'the scribes.' Translated into modern ideas of life the argument would be that no life in any social station must be without leisure, and on such leisure self-culture depends.
vii. This section makes a transitional stage to the next division of our selections, as it consists of an Essay containing a Sonnet.
The argument of the whole is that Life is a thing of joy, tempered by the sense of responsibility. The latter idea is conveyed by the word 'judgment,' which throughout the Old Testament stands for the irreconcilable antagonism between good and evil, and the certain overthrow of evil: the recognition of this makes action responsible. With this limitation, the author urges that the very shortness of life and youth is so much incentive to make joyful what days are allowed.
The scheme of high parallelism [see above, page [256]] in this sonnet is the 'pendulum structure': the alternation of successive lines between two thoughts is conveyed to the eye by the indenting of the lines. The middle lines put symbolic descriptions of old age; the lines indented on the left drop the symbolism and speak in plain terms. [The lines indented on the right are subordinate clauses.]
The matter of the sonnet is a tour-de-force of symbolism, under which are veiled the symptoms of senile decay followed by death. It is very likely that some of the symbols may be lost; but it is not difficult to see, without straining, a possible interpretation for each; and some of them have passed into traditional use. The poetic beauty of the passage is marvellous.
Or ever the sun, and the light ... be darkened: in view of the opening words of the preceding essay, which take the 'light' and 'sun' as symbols of the whole happiness of conscious existence, it is clear that the darkening of this light is the gradual failing of the joy of living.—And the clouds return after the rain: an exquisite symbol, closely akin to the last. In youth we may overstrain and disturb our health, but we soon rally; these are storms that quickly clear up. In age the rallying power is gone: "the clouds return after the rain."—The keepers of the house shall tremble: Cheyne understands of the hands and arms, the trembling of which is a natural accompaniment of old age.—The strong men shall bow themselves: the stooping frame; the plural is merely by attraction to 'keepers.'—The grinders cease because they are few: obviously of the teeth.—Those that look out of the windows be darkened: the eyes becoming dim.—The doors shall be shut in the street: the general connection of ideas makes it inevitable that the 'folding-doors' should be the jaws; clenched jaws are so marked a feature in the skull that it is not difficult to associate them with the picture of old age.—When the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low: these must be taken together: appetite, speech, and sleep are all feeble. Grinding must be interpreted as grinders in the previous part of the sonnet: the loud or low sound of such grinding may fitly typify the eagerness of appetite or the reverse. The early waking or short sleeping of old age is well known. The daughters of music are the tones of the voice.—They shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way: the gait of old age is, through physical feebleness, much what the gait of a person terrified is for other reasons.—The almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and the caperberry shall burst: the three are linked together as being images from natural objects, not because of their symbolising similar things. The blossoming of the almond tree probably refers to the sparse white hairs of age. The name of this tree in Hebrew is founded on the fact that it is the first to blossom; though not strictly white, its blossoms may be called whitish: the whitish blossoms, solitary while all is bare around, just yield the image required. The grasshopper is evidently a symbol for a small object, which is nevertheless heavy to feeble age. The caperberry shall burst: the last stage of its decay: the failing powers at last give way. And then follows the dropping of the symbolism: "Man goeth to his long home."
So far we have had symbols for failure of powers; now for actual death and dissolution. Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken: a symbol from the house-lamp of gold, suspended by a silver cord, suddenly slipping its cord and breaking, its light becoming extinguished. For bowl in this sense compare Zechariah, chapter iv. 2, 3.—Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern: these are exquisite symbols for the sudden and violent cessation of every-day functions. Compare the popular proverb: "The pitcher goes to the well once too often."—And the spirit return unto God who gave it: this by analogy with the previous line must be interpreted to mean no more than that the man becomes just what he was before he was born.
Sonnets
i. The Sluggard. The metrical scheme of this sonnet is simple: a strophe balanced by an antistrophe. [See above, page [244].]