Many people think the quote “Spare the rod and spoil the child” comes from the Bible.
In fact, it’s not a Biblical quotation.
It’s from the 17th century poem Hudibras, written by Samuel Butler (1612-1680), a British poet who had a wicked sense of humor.
His inspiration probably was a verse from the Bible: the scary piece of Biblical parental advice in Proverbs 13:24 that says: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
Butler took part of that line and gave it a bit of a twist.
He had witnessed the insanities of the English Civil Wars between the Puritans, Presbyterians and other factions in the mid-1600s. In his epic poem Hudibras, he satirized the religious and political extremism of those factions.
The poem was published in three parts, in 1663, 1664 and 1678.
The second part was entered into the Stationer’s Registry (Britain’s early version of a copyright office) on November 5, 1663.
Part II includes the famous “spare the rod quote.” It’s in this verse about the hazards of love:
“If matrimony and hanging go
By dest’ny, why not whipping too?
What med’cine else can cure the fits
Of lovers when they lose their wits?
Love is a boy by poets stil’d
Then spare the rod and spoil the child.”
That antiquated poesy is not easy to understand, but it is actually a bit of bawdy humor. |
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发表于 2010-1-3 05:26:00
