English Puritan & Reformed

Alas Poor Scholar Whither Wilt Thou Go

Robert Wild (1609-1679) · 551 words · 2 min

The source for this document is https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A15348.0001.001

Project Note

This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.

This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.

Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.

However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.

This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.

Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org

Alas poor Scholar, whither wilt thou go: OR Strange altrations which at this time be; There's many did think they never should see.

To the tune of, Halloo my Fancy, &c.

[illustration]

         IN a melancholy studdy
        
         None but myself,
        
         Me thought my muse grew muddy,
        
         After seven years reading
        
         And costly breeding,
        
         I felt, but could find no pelf:
        
         Into learned rags
        
         I'ue rent my Plush and Satin,
        
         And now am fit to beg
        
         in
         
          Hebrew, Greek
         
         and
         
          Lattin,
         
         Iu
         
          ••••
         
         d of
         
          Aristotle,
         
         would I had got a Patten:
        
         Alas poor Scholar whither wilt thou go?

          Cambridge
         
         now I must leave thee
        
         And follow Fate,
        
          College
         
         hopes do deceive me,
        
         I oft expected
        
         To have been elected,
        
         But desert is reprobate:
        
         Masters of
         
          Colleges
         
         have no common graces,
        
         And they that have
         
          Fellowships
         
         have but common places,
        
         And those that
         
          Scholars
         
         are,
        
         they must have hansome faces:
        
         Alas poor Scholar whither wilt thou go?

[illustration]

         I have bowed, I have bended,
        
         And all in hope,
        
         Due day to be befrended,
        
         I have Preach'd, I have Printed
        
         What ere I hinted,
        
         To please our English
         
          Pope
         
         ;
        
         I worshipped towards the East,
        
         but the Sun doth now forsake me,
        
         I find that I am falling,
        
         the Northern winds do shake me,
        
         Would I had been upright,
        
         for bowing now will break me:
        
         Alas poor Scholar, whither wilt thou go?

         At great preferment I aimed
        
         Witness my silk,
        
         But now my hopes are maimed,
        
         I looked lately,
        
         To live most stately,
        
         And have a Dairy of
         
          Bell-ropes
         
         milk:
        
         But now alas,
        
         myself I must not flatter,
        
         Bygamy of
         
          Steeples
         
         is a laughing matter,
        
         Each man must have but one,
        
         and
         
          Curates
         
         will grow fatter.
        
         Alas poor Scholar, whither wilt thou go?

The second part,

to the same Tune.

[illustration]

         INto some Country Uillage
        
         Now I must go,
        
         Where neither Tith nor Tillage▪
        
         The greedy Patron
        
         And parched Matron,
        
         Swear to the Church they owe:
        
         Yet if I can preach and pray too on a sudden,
        
         And confute the
         
          Pope
         
         at adventure without studdying,
        
         Then ten pounds a year
        
         besides a sunday pudding.
        
         Alas poor Scholar whither wilt thou go?

         All the Arts I have Skill in,
        
         Divine and Human,
        
         Yet all's not worth a shilling,
        
         When the women hear me,
        
         They do but ieare me,
        
         And say I am profane:
        
         Once I remember,
        
         I Preached with a
         
          Weaver,
         
         I quoated
         
          Augustine,
         
         He quoated
         
          Dodd
         
         and
         
          Cliver,
         
         I nothing got,
        
         he got a Cloke and Bever.
        
         Alas poor Scholar whither wilt thou go?

         Shipps, Shipps, Shipps I discover,
        
         Crossing the Maine,
        
         Shall I in and go over
        
         Turn
         
          Jew
         
         or Atheist,
        
         Turk
         
          or
         
         Papist,
        
         To
         
          Geneva
         
         or
         
          Amsterdam:
         
          Bishoppricks
         
         are void
        
         in
         
          Scotland,
         
         shall I thither,
        
         Or follow
         
          Windebanke
         
         and
         
          Finch
         
         to see if either
        
         Do want a Priest to shrive them,
        
         O no tis blustering weather.
        
         Alas poor Scholar whither wilt thou go?

         Ho, ho, ho, I have hit it,
        
         Peace goodman fool,
        
         Thou hast a frame will fit it,
        
         Draw thy Indenture,
        
         Be bound at adventure,
        
         An Apprentice to a
         
          Free-school;
         
         There thou mayest command
        
         By
         
          William Lilies
         
         Charter,
        
         There thou mayst whipp, stripp
        
         and hang and draw and quarter,
        
         And commit to the red Rod,
        
         both
         
          Will.
         
         and
         
          Tom.
         
         and
         
          Arthur.
         
         I, I, 'tis thither, thither will I go.

FINIS.