Rosemary and Pansies/The Spiritual Life
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.
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.
Ambition, wealth, and beauty sought 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.
Reason was valued not, he found, By people or by prince, Who on his wisest measures frowned And at plain truth did wince.
But when by sad disasters tried,They sought his aid again,And begged he would the kingdom guide,And as their sovereign reign.
"Ah! could I only think," he said,"Taught in affliction's school,That you the righteous path would treadThen would I o'er you rule.
"But nations never yet for longHave been by wisdom swayed,Reason than passion's far less strong,And truth's with treachery paid.
"As king I must my own soul loseTo gain ingratitude,Wherefore the path of peace I choose,Where no false shows delude.
"Ambition's but a will o' th' wisp,Wealth's but a pedlar's pack,Beauty is but a shining lureThe souls of men to wreck.
"Mine are the stars, the sun, the moon,Valleys and mountains mine;All things yield up some precious boonTo make my life divine.
"When morning breaks I greet the sunWith ever-new delight,And still, when he his course has run,Welcome no less the night.
"An everlasting spring I seeOf beauty and of loveIn earth, sea, rock, stone, flower, and tree,And in the heavens above.
"All natural things my soul sustain,Supplying all its needs;From them that full content I gainMen vainly seek in creeds.
"Glories where'er I gaze appearOf colour, beauty, form;The music of one Voice I hearAlike in calm and storm.
"All things transfigured in my sightA greater radiance gain,I see the very light of light,The heaven of heavens attain.
"One impulse ruling all I feelThat in one chain doth bindWhat some call real and some ideal,Sense, substance, soul, and mind:
"The soul that unifieth all,And all doth animate;That finds no grain of sand too small,No universe too great.
"Divine ideas all unsoughtMy spirit apprehends:Ever the greatness of my thoughtMy power of speech transcends.
"Words cannot tell the sweet contentThat in my soul doth reign,Whose wealth the faster it is spentThe richer doth remain.
"Stars crown me with their aureole,The sea flows through my veins,The heavens clothe me, and my soulInfinity contains.[1]
"I look beyond Earth's petty span,And worlds of light I see,Where, cleansed from sin and suffering, manAscends to deity,
"Until, at variance no moreWith the eternal Will,I see him, strife and effort o'er,His destiny fulfil."
1902
- ↑ "You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars."—Thomas Traherne.