Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On May 23, 2007, at 9:11 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
>
> > This list provides an endless supply of
> > tautologies.
>
> "All truth is a deep tautology." - Harold Bloom
Someplace in Capital Marx writes of a statement he had just made or quoted, This is a tautology, but a sensible one. (From memory)
All truth may be a deep tautology but all tautologies are neither deep nor sensible. I learned to react negatively to tautology in the first instance from Dryden:
MacFlecknoe ALL humane things are subiect to decay, And when Fate Summons, Monarch's must obey; This Flecknoe found, who like Augustus young, Was call'd to Empire, and had Govern'd long; In Prose and Verse was own'd without Dispute, Through all the Realms of Nonsense, Absolute; This Aged Prince now flourishing in Peace, And blest with Issue of a large Increase, Worn out with Business, did at length Debate, To settle the Succession of the State, And Pond'ring, which of all his Sons were fit To reign, and Wage Immortal Wars, with Wit, Cry'd 'tis Resov'd (for Nature pleads, that he Should only Rule, who most resembles me,) Shad--- alone my perfect Image Bears, Mature in Dulness from his Tender Years; Shad--- alone of all my Sons, is He Who stands confirm'd in full Stupidity; The rest, to some faint meaning make Pretence, But Shad-- never deviates into Sence; Some Beams of Wit on other Souls may fall, Strike through, and make a Lucid Interval; But Shad--- Genuine Night admits no Ray, His rising Fogs prevail upon the Day; Besides, his goodly Fabric fills the Eye, And seems design'd for thoughtless Majesty; Thoughtless as Monarch-Oaks that shade the Plain, And spread in solemn State, supinely Reign; Heywood and Shirly were but Types of Thee, Thou last great Prophet of Tautology.
I have loved that line from my first reading of it over 50 years ago. But rereading the whole poem, I must note that Samuel Johnson's greatest error of taste was preferring Dryden to Pope.
Carrol