|
Copywork
========================
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
========================
FAITHFUL
Like the star
That shines afar
Without haste
And without rest,
Let each man wheel with steady sway
Round the task that rules the day,
And do his best!
---------------------------
WITHOUT HASTE AND WITHOUT REST
Without haste and without rest;
Bind the motto to thy breast.
Bear it with thee as a spell,
Storm or sunshine, guard it well!
Heed not flowers that round thee bloom;
Bear it onward to the tomb!
Haste not--let no thoughtless deed
Mar the spirit's steady speed;
Ponder well, and know the right,
Onward, then, with all thy might;
Haste not--years can ne'er atone
For one reckless action done!
Rest not--life is sweeping by.
Do and dare before you die;
Something worthy and sublime
Leave behind to conquer time;
Glorious 'tis to live for aye,
When these forms have passed away.
Haste not--rest not. Calm in strife
Meekly bear the storms of life;
Duty be thy polar guide;
Do the right, whate'er betide;
Haste not--rest not. Conflicts past,
God shall crown thy work at last!
---------------------------
MORE AND MORE
Purer yet and purer
I would be in mind,
Dearer yet and dearer
Every duty find;
Hoping still and trusting
God without a fear,
Patiently believing
He will make it clear.
---
Higher yet and higher
Out of clouds and night,
Nearer yet and nearer
Rising to the light--
Light serene and holy--
Where my soul may rest,
Purified and lowly,
Sanctified and blest.
---------------------------
Art thou little? Do they little well;
And for thy comfort know
Great men can do their greatest work
No better than just so.
---------------------------
Persuasion friend,comes not by toil or
art,
Hard study never made the matter clearer;
'Tis the live fountain in the preacher's heart
Sends forth the streams that melt the ravished hearer.
---------------------------
A CHORUS FROM FAUST
Translated by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Sung by the three archangels, before the Lord and the host of
heaven.
Raphael
The sun makes music as of old
Amid the rival spheres of Heaven,
On its predestined circle rolled
With thunder speed: the Angels even
Draw strength from gazing on its glance,
Though none its meaning fathom may:--
The worlds unwithered countenance
Is bright as at Creation's day.
Gabriel
And swift and swift, with rapid lightness,
The adorned Earth spins silently,
Alternating Elysian brightness
With deep and dreadful night; the sea
Foams in broad billows from the deep
Up to the rocks, and rocks and Oceans,
Onward, with spheres which never sleep,
Are hurried in eternal motion.
Michael
And tempests in contention roar
From land to sea, from sea to land,
And raging, weave a chain of power,
Which girds the earth, as with a band.
A flashing desolation there
Flames before the thunder's way;
But, Thy servants, Lord, revere
The gentler changes of Thy day.
Chorus of Three
The angels draw strength from Thy glance
Though no one comprehend Thee may;--
Thy world's unwithered countenance
Is bright as on Creation's day.
Vintage
EXCEPTIONAL! BOOKS
| 
Home
