Nor one spell repentance knows, To stir the still one from repose. If thou wouldst, wise and happy, see SPACE. A threefold measure dwells in space- Still lengthening labor sweeps; THE ANTIQUE TO THE NORTHERN WANDERER. AND o'er the river hast thou past, and o'er the mighty sea, And o'er the Alps, the dizzy bridge hath borne thy steps to me; To look all near upon the bloom my deathless beauty knows, And, face to face, to front the pomp whose fame through ages goes Gaze on, and touch my relics now! At last thou standest here, But art thou nearer now to me-or I to thee more near? GENIUS. (FREE TRANSLATION.) [The original, and it seems to us the more appropriate, title of this poem, was "Nature and the School."] Do I believe, thou askest, the master's word, The schoolman's shibboleth that binds the herd? To the soul's haven is there but one chart? Its peace a problem to be learned by art? On system rest the happy and the good? To base the temple must the props be wood? Must I distrust the gentle law, imprest, To guide and warn, by nature on the breast, Till, squared to rule the instinct of the soul,— Till the school's signet stamp the eternal scroll, Till in one mould, some dogma hath confined The ebb and flow-the light waves of the mind? Say thou, familiar to these depths of gloom, Thou, safe ascended from the dusty tomb, Thou, who hast trod these weird Egyptian cellsSay-if life's comfort with yon mummies dwells; Say-and I grope-with saddened steps indeed-But on, through darkness, if to truth it lead! Nay, friend, thou knowest the golden timethe age Whose legends live in many a poet's page? When heavenlier shapes with man walked side by side, And the chaste feeling was itself a guide; Then the great law, alike divine amid Suns bright in heaven, or germs in darkness hid, That silent law-(called whether by the name To that deep sea, the heart, its movement gave-- wave. Then sense unerring--because unreproved— Half-guide, half-playmate, of earth's age of youth, Then, nor initiate nor profane were known; Where the heart felt there reason found a throne: Not from the dust below, but life around But, gone that blessed age!-our willful pride back! Hast thou, (O blest, if so, whate'er betide!)— * Schiller seems to allude to the philosophy of Fichte and Schilling, then on the ascendant, which sought to explain the enigma of the universe, and to reconcile the antithesis between man and nature, by carrying both up into the unity of an absolute consciousness, i. e., a consciousness anterior to every thing which is now known under the name of consciousness-sed de hac re satius est silere quam parvum dicere. Will this play of fine sensations (or sensibilities) require no censor to control-i. e., will it always work spou taneously for good, and run into no passionate excess. Fearest thou not in the insidious heart to find No! then thine innocence thy mentor be! Science can teach thee nought she learns from thee! Each law that lends lame succor to the weakThe 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- earth! ULYSSES. To gain his home all oceans he explored- GERMAN FAITH. FOR Germania's old crown, fought Louis, the Bavarian's brave leader. And Frederick of Hapsburg, both eager such" power to wield. Young Frederick is vanquished in battle; an envious fortune Delivers the gallant young man into captivity's gloom. As a ransom he forfeits his throne and pledges his honor Against his own friends to fight with the inimical host; But, when delivered of bonds, he cannot redeem what in fetters He promised, and he returned, again to be loaded with chains. But with affectionate warmth his foe embraces the captive, And at his festive board tenders the friendly cup. Henceforth upon the same couch these princes trustingly slumber, While yet the bloodiest hate slaughters their warring hosts. To Frederick the foe's brave sword, while Louis goes forth to conquer His captive's relentless band, he trusts his own people and crown. "It is so it is so, indeed! I've heard it reported!" Exclaimed the Pontiff amazed when he was told of this faith. "Thou callest my art divine? It is so," replied the wise teacher; "It was so ere yet it had served the republic in war; If useful results thou desirest, art may produce them, though mortal; If the goddess thou wooest, caress not her womanly form." THE ROADS TO VIRTUE. THERE are two roads to virtue upon which man may travel; Few only bear fruit, all others decay into dust, But if one only lives and unfolds its innermost beauty, If one road is closed, the other one may be thine Only one will create a world of undying forms. MOTTO TO THE VOTIVE TABLETS. What the gods taught-what has befriended all the TO * IMPART to me knowledge-most gratefully shall I receive it; But if thou offerest thyself, oh, spare me this present, my friend! TO ** WOULDST thou teach me the truth? Oh, spare thyself all this vain trouble; Do not show me the thing, but let the thing show thee to me! This idea is often repeated, somewhat more clearly, in the haughty philosophy of Schiller. He himself says, elsewhere,"In a fair soul each single action is not properly moral, but the whole character is moral. The fair soul has no other service than the instincts of its own beauty." ." "Common natures," observes Hoffmeister, "can scat-only act, as it were, by rule and law; the noble are of themselves morally good, and humanely beautiful." To know thyself—in others self discern; MAJESTAS POPULI. TO A WORLD-REFORMER. 'I'VE offered up all," thou lamentest," on humanity's altar, But persecution and hate have been my labor's reward." Let a more practical wisdom henceforth illumine thy pathway, Such as has ever proved true to my own reason Humanity! ah, revere it, exalt its ideal; Unto man, as he meets thee in life, in its conflicts and cares, Extend a kind hand and help him with counsel and deed; But let sunshine and rain, and the welfare of whole generations, Query? The law of creation, both physical and Henceforth, be cared for by heaven as it has been moral. in all ages past. MY ANTIPATHY. LIGHT AND COLOR. VICE is repulsive to me, and more repulsive than DWELL, light, beside the changeless God-God spoke and light began; Come, thou, the ever-changing one-come, color, down to man! MY BELIEF. WHAT thy religion? those thou namest-none? None why-because I have religion! INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. GENIUS. INTELLECT can repeat what's been fulfilled, THE IMITATOR. GOOD out of good—that art is known to all- INGENUITY. GENIUS, how is it known? Ev'n the eternal Maker Reveals his wisdom in nature and in his infinite works. Bright seems the ethereal space, yet its depth is unmeasured; "Tis open to vision, but vailed to the contemplating mind. |