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Auschnitt von ‘Hymn to Science’ (by Mark Akenside, 1739)
Science! Thou [dein] fair [schön] effusive [überschwänglich] ray [Lichtstrahl] From the great source [Bezugsquelle] of mental [geistig] Day, Free, generous [gebefreudig], and refin’d [veredelt]! Descend with all thy treasures fraught [befrachtet], Illumine [aufhellen] each bewilder’d [verwirrt] thought, And bless my lab’ring [labouring = abmühend] mind.
But first with thy resistless [unwiderstehlich] light, Disperse [auflösen] those phantoms [Trugbilder] from my sight, Those mimic [imitierend, parodierend] shades of thee: The scholiast’s [Scholastiker] learning [Schulgelehrsamkeit], sophist’s [Haarspalter] cant [Jargon], The visionary [schwärmerisch] bigot’s [Eiferer] rant [geschwollenes Reden], The monk’s [Mönch] philosophy.
O! let thy powerful charms [Anmut, Zauber] impart [verleihen] The patient [beharrlich] head, the candid [aufrichtig] heart, Devoted [zugetan] to thy sway [Einfluß]; Which no weak [haltlos] passions [Leidenschaften] e’er [ever?] mislead, Which still [nach wie vor] with dauntless [beherzt] steps proceed Where Reason [Begründung] points the way.
Give me to learn [in Erfahrung bringen] such secret cause[Verursachung]; Let number’s, figure’s, motion’s laws [Gesetze der Zahlen, Figuren, Bewegung] Reveal’d [offenbart] before me stand; These to great Nature’s scenes [Schauplätze] apply [Anwendung finden], And round the globe, and thro’ [through] the sky, Disclose [enthüllen] her working hand.
Next [als Nächstes], to thy nobler [edel] search resign’d [hingegeben], The busy, restless, human mind Thro’ every maze [Irrgarten] pursue [Ziel verfolgend]; Detect Perception [Wahrnehmung] where it lies, Catch the Ideas as they rise [hochsteigen], And all their changes view [anschauen].
Say [sage, erkläre] from what simple springs began The vast [unermeßlich] ambitious [anspruchsvoll] thoughts of man, Which range [reichen] beyond control [Beherrschung], Which seek Eternity to trace [aufspüren], Dive thro’ [tauchen durch] th’ infinity of space, And strain [sich anstrengen] to grasp The Whole.
[…] (S. 11 f.) Vollständiges Gedicht HIER
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Kommentar:
Dieses enthusiastische Gedicht (also jedenfalls dieser Ausschnitt) beschreibt meiner Ansicht nach sehr gut die Realität genuiner Wissenschaftlichkeit.
Das Gedicht wird zitiert von Flynn, Simon in: The Science Magpie [‘magpie’ ist eine Elster (d.i. ein als ‘neugierig’ angesehener Rabenvogel - naja, wie dem auch sei)]: A Miscellany [Gemisch] of Paradoxes, Explications, Lists, Lives and Ephemera [Eintagsfliegen] from the Wonderful World of Science. Icon Books Ltd, Okt 2012
Hier ist Simon Flynn’s kurze Beschreibung des Autors des Gedichtes:
<It seems only fitting to open The Science Magpie with a ‘Hymn to Science’, which first appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1739 when its author, Mark Akenside, was only seventeen. The son of a butcher, it was around this time Akenside switched from preparing for a life as a nonconformist clergyman [Pfarrer] to training in medicine. He soon became a member of the Medical Society, eventually [schließlich] securing the position of physician [Arzt] to the Queen a little over twenty years later. Akenside wrote poetry throughout his life, including continuously revising [überarbeiten] his most famous work, The Pleasures of the Imagination, which Dr Johnson described as ‘an example of the great felicity [Glückseligkeit, Wortgewandtheit] of genius [Schöpferkraft]’.>
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