Meaning & Analysis
The proverb literally describes the physical action of a person rowing a boat, who typically faces the stern (looking one way) while propelling the boat forward (rowing in the opposite direction).
Insights
Deception and Duplicity
The proverb is a powerful metaphor for deceit and duplicity, describing someone whose actions are deliberately contrary to their words or appearance. They present a facade of one intention while actively pursuing another.
Hypocrisy and Contradiction
It illustrates hypocrisy, particularly in cases where individuals publicly advocate for one set of values or principles while privately acting in a manner that undermines them.
Strategic Misdirection
The act of looking one way while rowing another is interpreted as a method of strategic misdirection. It represents a calculated tactic to mislead observers or opponents about one's true goals and movements.
Hidden Intentions
It speaks to the general condition of having hidden intentions, where a person's outward demeanor is a mask for their real, unstated objectives. The direction of their gaze is a feint, while the rowing reveals their true purpose.
Historical Occupation as Symbol
Rooted in the common activity of watermen on rivers like the Thames, the proverb uses a familiar, everyday image to illustrate a complex social dynamic. The rower's physical posture became a potent symbol for duplicity in an era when river travel was central to city life.
Political Commentary
The proverb is frequently applied to political maneuvering, as noted in the 1659 quotation linking the action to a 'Politician'. It captures a timeless cynicism about politics, suggesting that a leader's public declarations (looking) often conceal their true, and contrary, actions (rowing).
Psychological Skepticism
The proverb serves as a psychological warning to judge individuals by their actions and outcomes, not by their outward appearances or stated intentions. It reflects a deep-seated cultural skepticism about taking people at face value.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb's structure is built on the stark contrast between 'looking one way' and 'rowing another', effectively highlighting the theme of contradiction.
Metaphor
It uses the concrete, visual act of rowing as a metaphor for the abstract concepts of deception, hypocrisy, and hidden agendas.
Imagery
The phrase creates a clear and memorable visual of a waterman at work, making the abstract idea of duplicity easy to grasp and recall.
Transcription
Quotations
I will not double withe you in driuinge you of withe faire language, when my meaninge is nothinge more then to disappoynte my appoyntment, and so Imitate the waterman, whiche lookethe one waye, and roweth another.
A whery man, that looks one way and pulls another.
Charon looking before him (as Watermen vse to doe) that's to say, behind him, spied he was hard at shoare.
Shee has but us'd you As watermen use their fares, for shee look'd one way And row'd another.
Or by his posture of going back-ward when he looks forward; may claime affinity with the waterman, who rowes one way, yet lookes another.
For the chief among them had always Grace . . not to row the way they look'd.
The Politician like a Sculler, he looketh one way, and roweth another.
Or not unlike to Barge-men when they row, They look another way than that they go.
(To be one of the false Preachers, viz. who speaks well, but do amiss, who look).
To row one way and look the other.
To row one Way, and look another.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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