George Withers poem, By Knowledge, Life wee gaine, All other things to Death pertaine :: Philosophy Poet Poem Essays

George Wither's poem, By Knowledge, Life wee gaine, All other things to Death pertaine "Vivitur Ingenio Caetera Mortis Erut," roughly translated means, "Live intellectually. In all other matters, death is master." This phrase borders the emblem of George Wither's poem, By Knowledge, Life wee gaine, All other things to Death pertaine. This poem admonishes the reader to beware of a life too concerned with worldly pleasures, titles and treasures, which he says, belong to death and will return to him upon our death. He entreats us, rather, to concentrate on knowledge, honest actions, holy study and charity, which will provide a virtuous nature which cannot be removed by kings, time or death. In Thomas More's Utopia, we see an example of a people living by these examples, but in a self-motivated way. The fact that this society has adopted these sentiments as a purely logical survival mechanism can be seen in the differing attitudes between Utopian individual and Utopian nation toward education and learning, wealth and virtue. The poem's emblem shows a man, sitting under the Tree of Knowledge, with his hand on a stack of books contemplating lofty thoughts. He has his back turned from personified Death. George Wither says, "That Knowledge, and that Treasure seeks to find, Which may enrich thy Heart with perfect Joy." We are to understand that learning and knowledge are the most important things to occupy our time in the short life. The Utopian held the wise and learned man in the highest esteem, elevating him to positions of leadership and excusing him from the normal work duties of society. These leaders are tasked with upholding the laws and maintaining a balanced society. Utopians are skilled in "music, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry...logistics," and devour up the Greek classic which Hythlodaeus brings to the island. The nation of Utopia, on the other hand, is quite different. It is a very closed society. It deals in the baser occupations of commerce and even buys slaves from neighboring nations. The n ation holds itself in such high regard that there are no lessons to be learned from it's neighbors. Contrasting the wise man in the emblem is the skeleton hoarding treasures. Among these items are gold, a crown and a coat of arms representing, respectively, wealth, power and honor. These items are in the possession of death, apparently reverting to him after the foolish ones have died. As a socialist society, everything is provided for and by Utopians.