Part 24 (1/2)

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 n.o.blest 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, Pa.s.s 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 s.p.a.ce: 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 s.p.a.ce, Knitting together e'en suns that by Sirius-distance are parted, Making them join in the swan and in the horns of the bull.