The theme of the poem is ‘when men are too learned or too wise, they lose the sight of reality. Sages are considered more wise. The irony of the poem is that the sage shows total foolishness. The poet uses the words in old English such as ‘sage’ , ‘yore’ , ‘mused’ to emphasize that right from the olden days, the highly learned people are too foolish and irrational. He attacks them as people, who do not have practical common sense. He also conveys a message to the readers to be alert and thoughtful and always act in a meaningful manner.
