Today’s class left me FEELING things! Mostly nostalgia for Fall 2019 and for the Combs basement and questions of Faith and Truth. With our discussion of “This World is not Conclusion,” I was really interested in the representation of Faith as something faulty and clumsy, rather than the traditional safe and sturdy belief. It reminded me of an earlier poem, “”Faith” is a fine invention” (202). It reads: “”Faith” is a fine invention / for gentlemen who see! / But Microscopes are prudent / In an Emergency!” There’s a lot to unpack in these four lines: the mocking quotations, the created “invention” of Faith, the italicized “see”. But I am particularly interested in the distrust/disregard of Faith. Here, it is something of a luxury, reserved for gentlemen that can (supposedly) see things clearly. The tripwire, though, (to borrow Dr. Scanlon’s word) is “Microscope.” It is scientific and works against Faith in almost every way. To use a microscope is to examine things methodically and intimately, noting details that would escape the bare eye. In another word, I guess, a microscope allows one to see the Truth and facts, rather than something imagined. It’s as if Faith is not sufficient to see truth and reality.

This poem pairs nicely with “This World is not Conclusion,” then, particularly with the lines “Narcotics cannot still the Tooth / That nibbles at the Soul”. If faith is insufficient, what takes its place? If all of these narcotics that humans have invented to explain the unexplainable have failed, then what are we left with? If philosophy, religion, sagacity, and faith have failed, then we are left with…. science? With facts? I refuse to accept that, so instead we are left with… despair? With the constant nibble of the tooth (truth); the constant desire to know that will never be satisfied? I am interested in how you all see the final lines of this poem in relation to “‘Faith’ is a fine invention.” Also, I am wondering what Emergency means here. Lots to consider and go crazy over!

I will choose despair over science every time
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