Hypocrisy and Authority

The poem establishes the eponymous scholars as “Old, learned, [and] respectable” (Line 2). Their “bald heads” (Line 1) suggest not only an advancement of years, but a uniformity. This suggests that these men have been in their position, comfortably dominating an industry, for a substantial amount of time. However, the speaker is immediately critical of the scholars and their position of authority, stating that they are “forgetful of their sins” (Line 1). The sense given by the poem is that the scholars did not “forget” their sins so much as overlook them, willingly discarding their misjudgments and mistakes. The use of the word “sins” and later “Lord” (Line 12) hint at a possible religious connection, and the sins could refer to anything from pride to something much more serious, such as sexual assault. Rigorous religious institutions, particularly in Ireland during Yeats’ time, have been widely recognized for this...