No!--then thine Innocence thy Mentor be! Science can teach thee naught--she learns from thee! Each law that lends lame succor to the Weak-- The cripple's crutch--the vigorous need not seek! From thine own self thy rule of action draw; That which thou dost--what charms thee--is thy Law, And founds to every race a code sublime-- What pleases Genius gives a Law to Time! The Word--the Deed--all Ages shall command, Pure if thy lip and holy if thy hand! Thou, thou alone mark'st not within thy heart The inspiring God whose Minister thou art, Know'st not the magic of the mighty ring Which bows the realm of Spirits to their King: But meek, nor conscious of diviner birth, Glide thy still footsteps thro' the conquered Earth!
[Under this title Schiller arranged that more dignified and philosophical portion of the small Poems published as Epigrams in the _Musen Almanach_; which rather sought to point a general thought, than a personal satire.--Many of these, however, are either wholly without interest for the English reader, or express in almost untranslatable laconism what, in far more poetical shapes, Schiller has elsewhere repeated and developed. We, therefore, content ourselves with such a selection as appears to us best suited to convey a fair notion of the object and spirit of the class.--Translator]
What the God taught--what has befriended all Life's ways, I place upon the Votive Wall.
The Good's the Flower to Earth already given-- The Beautiful, on Earth sows flowers from Heaven!
If thou _hast_ something, bring thy goods--a fair return be thine; If thou _art_ something, bring thy soul and interchange with mine.
To know _thyself_--in others self discern; Wouldst thou know others? Read thyself--and learn!
Yes, in the moral world, as ours, we see Divided grades--a Soul's Nobility; By deeds their titles Commoners create-- The loftier order are by birthright great.[5]
Spreads Life's true mystery round us evermore, Seen by no eye, it lies all eyes before.
Wouldst thou the loftiest height of Wisdom gain? On to the rashness, Prudence would disdain; The purblind see but the receding shore, Not that to which the bold wave wafts thee o'er!
Truth seek we both--Thou, in the life without thee and around; I in the Heart within--by both can Truth alike be found; The healthy eye can through the world the great Creator track-- The healthy heart is but the glass which gives creation back.