Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Alumni of Dullheads' College
A.H. Bullen (1857-1920), "Hestiæus Ponticus," Weeping-Cross and other Rimes (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 1921), p. 36:
Hat tip: Stephen Pentz, for drawing my attention to Bullen's Weeping-Cross.
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Old Hestiæus, learned dunce,—Athenaeus 6.273 d (tr. Charles Burton Gulick):
(So Grecian gossips tell the story)
Through all his lifetime never once
Saw the sun rise or set in glory:
Over his scrolls he'd constant pore
To pack his pate with curious lore.
Hail, sage of Pontus! you and I
Were surely bred at Dullheads' College:
While the green light's in western sky,
I'm searching books for useless knowledge!
And ah, how seldom have mine eyes
Beheld the glorious morning rise!
But the boast of Hestiaeus of Pontus, that he had never seen the sun rise or set because he was engaged in study all the time, is a noble one. This is recorded by Nicias of Nicaea in The Successions.Related posts:
Hat tip: Stephen Pentz, for drawing my attention to Bullen's Weeping-Cross.
