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THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
There lived a man in days long past,
The happiest of his kind,
Who kept unstained from first to last
His pure and lucid mind.
The happiest of his kind,
Who kept unstained from first to last
His pure and lucid mind.
Not of, though in the world he dwelt,
Eventless was his life;
No greed, no lust, no hate he felt,
With no man had he strife.
Eventless was his life;
No greed, no lust, no hate he felt,
With no man had he strife.
Ambition, wealth, and beauty sought
To tempt him with their wares,
But on his equal temper wrought
In vain with all their snares.
To tempt him with their wares,
But on his equal temper wrought
In vain with all their snares.
They offered him a statesman's place,
He held it for a time,
But left it rather than abase
His soul with statecraft's slime.
He held it for a time,
But left it rather than abase
His soul with statecraft's slime.
Reason was valued not, he found,
By people or by prince,
Who on his wisest measures frowned
And at plain truth did wince.
By people or by prince,
Who on his wisest measures frowned
And at plain truth did wince.
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