Читать книгу The Greatest German Classics (Vol. 1-14) - Various - Страница 36

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No living atom comes at last to naught!

Active in each is still the eternal Thought:

Hold fast to Being if thou wouldst be blest.

Being is without end; for changeless laws

Bind that from which the All its glory draws

Of living treasures endlessly possessed.

Unto the wise of old this truth was known,

Such wisdom knit their noble souls in one;

Then hold thou still the lore of ancient days!

To that high power thou ow'st it, son of man,

By whose decree the earth its circuit ran

And all the planets went their various ways.

Then inward turn at once thy searching eyes;

Thence shalt thou see the central truth arise

From which no lofty soul goes e'er astray;

There shalt thou miss no needful guiding sign—

For conscience lives, and still its light divine

Shall be the sun of all thy moral day.

Next shalt thou trust thy senses' evidence,

And fear from them no treacherous offence

While the mind's watchful eye thy road commands:

With lively pleasure contemplate the scene

And roam securely, teachable, serene,

At will throughout a world of fruitful lands.

Enjoy in moderation all life gives:

Where it rejoices in each thing that lives

Let reason be thy guide and make thee see.

Then shall the distant past be present still,

The future, ere it comes, thy vision fill—

Each single moment touch eternity.

Then at the last shalt thou achieve thy quest,

And in one final, firm conviction rest:

What bears for thee true fruit alone is true.

Prove all things, watch the movement of the world

As down the various ways its tribes are whirled;

Take thou thy stand among the chosen few.

Thus hath it been of old; in solitude

The artist shaped what thing to him seemed good,

The wise man hearkened to his own soul's voice.

Thus also shalt thou find thy greatest bliss;

To lead where the elect shall follow—this

And this alone is worth a hero's choice.