And yet
Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set,
And blew. "_Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came_."
VI
POEMS OF PARADOX
The word paradox comes from two Greek words, meaning simply,
"beyond belief." As every one ought to know, a paradox is something
that read literally is absurd, but if taken in the spirit in which
it is uttered, may contain profound truth. Paradox is simply
over-emphasis: and is therefore a favorite method of teaching. By
the employment of paradox the teacher wishes to stress forcibly some
aspect of the truth which otherwise may not be seen at all. Fine
print needs a magnifying-glass; and the deep truth hidden in a
paradox can not perhaps become clear unless enlarged by powerful
emphasis. All teachers know the value of _italics_.
Socrates was very fond of paradox: the works of Ibsen, Nietzsche,
Shaw and Chesterton are full of paradoxes: Our Lord's utterances in
the New Testament are simply one paradox after another. No wonder
His disciples were often in a maze.
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