Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition

Anglo-Irish poems of the Middle Ages (Author: [unknown])

Poem 16

Denial

1] To place 'I deny' in any scholarship is only to pervert the truth. Truth tends so much towards heavenly happiness, 'I deny' certainly does not do so. 'Abandon' and 'Save' is a thief in learning, 'I deny' is invaluable to a impoverished man of learning. When men harass them on all sides, 'I deny' saves them from anxiety.
10] Away with 'I deny' out of the place, whosoever wishes to have God's grace. Whoever wishes to fight against the devil, there can 'I deny' take its place properly. But take care that we never more place 'I deny' in the midst of true teaching, for whoever knows little has soon finished, he turns to 'I deny' immediately.
20] Now one learned man says ‘I deny’, and the second ‘I am uncertain’, another says ‘I grant’ and another ‘I bind by special condition’. Place 'False Truth' with these, then all the teaching is completed.
Thus the sham scholars from their own intellects cause men to be robbed by them of the truth.