The Poems of Schiller — Third period

HONORS

 
   [Dignities would be the better title, if the word were not so
   essentially unpoetical.]
 
 
   When the column of light on the waters is glassed,
    As blent in one glow seem the shine and the stream;
   But wave after wave through the glory has passed,
    Just catches, and flies as it catches, the beam
   So honors but mirror on mortals their light;
   Not the man but the place that he passes is bright.
 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL EGOTIST

 
   Hast thou the infant seen that yet, unknowing of the love
   Which warms and cradles, calmly sleeps the mother's heart above —
   Wandering from arm to arm, until the call of passion wakes,
   And glimmering on the conscious eye — the world in glory breaks?
 
 
   And hast thou seen the mother there her anxious vigil keep?
   Buying with love that never sleeps the darling's happy sleep?
   With her own life she fans and feeds that weak life's trembling rays,
   And with the sweetness of the care, the care itself repays.
 
 
   And dost thou Nature then blaspheme — that both the child and mother
   Each unto each unites, the while the one doth need the other? —
   All self-sufficing wilt thou from that lovely circle stand —
   That creature still to creature links in faith's familiar band?
 
 
   Ah! dar'st thou, poor one, from the rest thy lonely self estrange?
   Eternal power itself is but all powers in interchange!
 

THE BEST STATE CONSTITUTION

 
I can recognize only as such, the one that enables
Each to think what is right, — but that he thinks so, cares not.
 

THE WORDS OF BELIEF

 
   Three words will I name thee — around and about,
    From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee;
   But they had not their birth in the being without,
    And the heart, not the lip, must their oracle be!
   And all worth in the man shall forever be o'er
   When in those three words he believes no more.
 
 
   Man is made free! — Man by birthright is free,
    Though the tyrant may deem him but born for his tool.
   Whatever the shout of the rabble may be —
    Whatever the ranting misuse of the fool —
   Still fear not the slave, when he breaks from his chain,
   For the man made a freeman grows safe in his gain.
 
 
   And virtue is more than a shade or a sound,
    And man may her voice, in this being, obey;
   And though ever he slip on the stony ground,
    Yet ever again to the godlike way,
   To the science of good though the wise may be blind,
   Yet the practice is plain to the childlike mind.
 
 
   And a God there is! — over space, over time,
    While the human will rocks, like a reed, to and fro,
   Lives the will of the holy — a purpose sublime,
    A thought woven over creation below;
   Changing and shifting the all we inherit,
   But changeless through all one immutable spirit
 
 
   Hold fast the three words of belief — though about
    From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee;
   Yet they take not their birth from the being without —
    But a voice from within must their oracle be;
   And never all worth in the man can be o'er,
   Till in those three words he believes no more.
 

THE WORDS OF ERROR

 
   Three errors there are, that forever are found
    On the lips of the good, on the lips of the best;
   But empty their meaning and hollow their sound —
    And slight is the comfort they bring to the breast.
   The fruits of existence escape from the clasp
   Of the seeker who strives but those shadows to grasp —
 
 
   So long as man dreams of some age in this life
    When the right and the good will all evil subdue;
   For the right and the good lead us ever to strife,
    And wherever they lead us the fiend will pursue.
   And (till from the earth borne, and stifled at length)
   The earth that he touches still gifts him with strength! ⁴¹
   So long as man fancies that fortune will live,
    Like a bride with her lover, united with worth;
   For her favors, alas! to the mean she will give —
    And virtue possesses no title to earth!
   That foreigner wanders to regions afar,
   Where the lands of her birthright immortally are!
 
 
   So long as man dreams that, to mortals a gift,
    The truth in her fulness of splendor will shine;
   The veil of the goddess no earth-born may lift,
    And all we can learn is — to guess and divine!
   Dost thou seek, in a dogma, to prison her form?
   The spirit flies forth on the wings of the storm!
 
 
   O, noble soul! fly from delusions like these,
    More heavenly belief be it thine to adore;
   Where the ear never hearkens, the eye never sees,
    Meet the rivers of beauty and truth evermore!
   Not without thee the streams — there the dull seek them; — No!
   Look within thee — behold both the fount and the flow!
 

THE POWER OF WOMAN

 
   Mighty art thou, because of the peaceful charms of thy presence;
    That which the silent does not, never the boastful can do.
   Vigor in man I expect, the law in its honors maintaining,
    But, through the graces alone, woman e'er rules or should rule.
   Many, indeed, have ruled through the might of the spirit and action,
    But then thou noblest of crowns, they were deficient in thee.
   No real queen exists but the womanly beauty of woman;
    Where it appears, it must rule; ruling because it appears!
 

THE TWO PATHS OF VIRTUE

 
   Two are the pathways by which mankind can to virtue mount upward;
    If thou should find the one barred, open the other will lie.
   'Tis by exertion the happy obtain her, the suffering by patience.
    Blest is the man whose kind fate guides him along upon both!
 

THE PROVERBS OF CONFUCIUS

I

 
   Threefold is the march of time
    While the future slow advances,
    Like a dart the present glances,
   Silent stands the past sublime.
 
 
   No impatience e'er can speed him
    On his course if he delay;
   No alarm, no doubts impede him
    If he keep his onward way;
   No regrets, no magic numbers
   Wake the tranced one from his slumbers.
   Wouldst thou wisely and with pleasure,
   Pass the days of life's short measure,
   From the slow one counsel take,
   But a tool of him ne'er make;
   Ne'er as friend the swift one know,
   Nor the constant one as foe!
 

II

 
   Threefold is the form of space:
   Length, with ever restless motion,
   Seeks eternity's wide ocean;
   Breadth with boundless sway extends;
   Depth to unknown realms descends.
 
 
   All as types to thee are given;
   Thou must onward strive for heaven,
   Never still or weary be
   Would'st thou perfect glory see;
   Far must thy researches go.
   Wouldst thou learn the world to know;
   Thou must tempt the dark abyss
   Wouldst thou prove what Being is.
 
 
   Naught but firmness gains the prize, —
   Naught but fulness makes us wise, —
   Buried deep, truth ever lies!
 

HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

 
   Since thou readest in her what thou thyself hast there written,
    And, to gladden the eye, placest her wonders in groups; —
   Since o'er her boundless expanses thy cords to extend thou art able,
    Thou dost think that thy mind wonderful Nature can grasp.
   Thus the astronomer draws his figures over the heavens,
    So that he may with more ease traverse the infinite space,
   Knitting together e'en suns that by Sirius-distance are parted,
    Making them join in the swan and in the horns of the bull.
   But because the firmament shows him its glorious surface,
    Can he the spheres' mystic dance therefore decipher aright?
 

COLUMBUS

 
   Steer on, bold sailor — Wit may mock thy soul that sees the land,
   And hopeless at the helm may droop the weak and weary hand,
   Yet ever — ever to the West, for there the coast must lie,
   And dim it dawns, and glimmering dawns before thy reason's eye;
   Yea, trust the guiding God — and go along the floating grave,
   Though hid till now — yet now behold the New World o'er the wave!
   With genius Nature ever stands in solemn union still,
   And ever what the one foretells the other shall fulfil.
 

LIGHT AND WARMTH

 
   In cheerful faith that fears no ill
    The good man doth the world begin;
   And dreams that all without shall still
    Reflect the trusting soul within.
   Warm with the noble vows of youth,
   Hallowing his true arm to the truth;
 
 
   Yet is the littleness of all
    So soon to sad experience shown,
   That crowds but teach him to recall
    And centre thought on self alone;
   Till love, no more, emotion knows,
   And the heart freezes to repose.
 
 
   Alas! though truth may light bestow,
    Not always warmth the beams impart,
   Blest he who gains the boon to know,
    Nor buys the knowledge with the heart.
   For warmth and light a blessing both to be,
   Feel as the enthusiast — as the world-wise see.
 

BREADTH AND DEPTH

 
   Full many a shining wit one sees,
    With tongue on all things well conversing;
   The what can charm, the what can please,
    In every nice detail rehearsing.
   Their raptures so transport the college,
   It seems one honeymoon of knowledge.
 
 
   Yet out they go in silence where
    They whilom held their learned prate;
   Ah! he who would achieve the fair,
    Or sow the embryo of the great,
   Must hoard — to wait the ripening hour —
   In the least point the loftiest power.
 
 
   With wanton boughs and pranksome hues,
    Aloft in air aspires the stem;
   The glittering leaves inhale the dews,
    But fruits are not concealed in them.
   From the small kernel's undiscerned repose
   The oak that lords it o'er the forest grows.
 

THE TWO GUIDES OF LIFE.
THE SUBLIME AND THE BEAUTIFUL

 
Two genii are there, from thy birth through weary life to guide thee;
Ah, happy when, united both, they stand to aid beside thee?
With gleesome play to cheer the path, the one comes blithe with beauty,
And lighter, leaning on her arm, the destiny and duty.
With jest and sweet discourse she goes unto the rock sublime,
Where halts above the eternal sea ⁴² the shuddering child of time.
The other here, resolved and mute and solemn, claspeth thee,
And bears thee in her giant arms across the fearful sea.
Never admit the one alone! — Give not the gentle guide
Thy honor — nor unto the stern thy happiness confide!
 

THE IMMUTABLE

 
   Time flies on restless pinions — constant never.
   Be constant — and thou chainest time forever.
 

VOTIVE TABLETS

 
   That which I learned from the Deity, —
    that which through lifetime hath helped me,
   Meekly and gratefully now, here I suspend in his shrine.
 

DIFFERENT DESTINIES

 
Millions busily toil, that the human race may continue;
  But by only a few is propagated our kind.
Thousands of seeds by the autumn are scattered, yet fruit is engendered
  Only by few, for the most back to the element go.
But if one only can blossom, that one is able to scatter
  Even a bright living world, filled with creations eterne.
 

THE ANIMATING PRINCIPLE

 
   Nowhere in the organic or sensitive world ever kindles
    Novelty, save in the flower, noblest creation of life.
 

TWO DESCRIPTIONS OF ACTION

 
   Do what is good, and humanity's godlike plant thou wilt nourish;
    Plan what is fair, and thou'lt strew seeds of the godlike around.
 

DIFFERENCE OF STATION

 
   Even the moral world its nobility boasts — vulgar natures
    Reckon by that which they do; noble, by that which they are.
 

WORTH AND THE WORTHY

 
   If thou anything hast, let me have it, — I'll pay what is proper;
    If thou anything art, let us our spirits exchange.
 

THE MORAL FORCE

 
If thou feelest not the beautiful, still thou with reason canst will it;
  And as a spirit canst do, that which as man thou canst not.
 

PARTICIPATION

 
   E'en by the hand of the wicked can truth be working with vigor;
    But the vessel is filled by what is beauteous alone.
 

TO —

 
Tell me all that thou knowest, and I will thankfully hear it!
  But wouldst thou give me thyself, — let me, my friend, be excused!
 

TO —

 
Wouldst thou teach me the truth? Don't take the trouble! I wish not,
  Through thee, the thing to observe, — but to see thee through the thing.
 

TO —

 
   Thee would I choose as my teacher and friend. Thy living example
    Teaches me, — thy teaching word wakens my heart unto life.
 

THE PRESENT GENERATION

 
   Was it always as now? This race I truly can't fathom.
    Nothing is young but old age; youth, alas! only is old.
 

TO THE MUSE

 
   What I had been without thee, I know not — yet, to my sorrow
    See I what, without thee, hundreds and thousands now are.
 

THE LEARNED WORKMAN

 
Ne'er does he taste the fruit of the tree that he raised with such trouble;
Nothing but taste e'er enjoys that which by learning is reared.
 

THE DUTY OF ALL

 
   Ever strive for the whole; and if no whole thou canst make thee,
    Join, then, thyself to some whole, as a subservient limb!
 

A PROBLEM

 
   Let none resemble another; let each resemble the highest!
    How can that happen? let each be all complete in itself.
 

THE PECULIAR IDEAL

 
What thou thinkest, belongs to all; what thou feelest, is thine only.
  Wouldst thou make him thine own, feel thou the God whom thou thinkest!
 

TO MYSTICS

 
   That is the only true secret, which in the presence of all men
    Lies, and surrounds thee for ay, but which is witnessed by none.
 

THE KEY

 
   Wouldst thou know thyself, observe the actions of others.
    Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart.
 

THE OBSERVER

 
   Stern as my conscience, thou seest the points wherein I'm deficient;
    Therefore I've always loved thee, as my own conscience I've loved.
 

WISDOM AND PRUDENCE

 
   Wouldst thou, my friend, mount up to the highest summit of wisdom,
    Be not deterred by the fear, prudence thy course may deride
   That shortsighted one sees but the bank that from thee is flying,
    Not the one which ere long thou wilt attain with bold flight.