The Godlike (early 1780's)

 

Noble let man be,

Helpful and good;

For that alone

Distinguishes him

From all beings

That we know.

 

Hail to the unknown,

Loftier beings

Our minds prefigure!

Let man be like them;

His example teach us

To believe those.

 

For unfeeling,

Numb, is nature;

The sun shines

Upon bad and good,

And to the criminal

As to the best

The moon and the stars lend light.

 

Wind and rivers,

Thunder and hail

Rush on their way

And as they race

Headlong, take hold

One on the other.

 

So, too, chance

Gropes through the crowd,

And quickly snatches

The boy's curled innocence,

Quickly also

The guilty baldpate.

 

Following great, bronzen,

Ageless laws

All of us must

Fulfill the circles

Of our existence.

 

Yet man alone can

Achieve the impossible:

He distinguishes,

Chooses and judges;

He can give lasting

Life to the moment.

 

He alone should

Reward the good,

Punish the wicked,

Heal and save,

All erring and wandering

Usefully gather.

 

And we honor

Them, the immortals,

As though they were men,

Achieving in great ways

What the best in little

Achieves or longs to.

 

Let noble man

Be helpful and good,

Create unwearied

The useful, the just;

Be to us a pattern

Of those prefigured beings.

 

 

Translated by Vernon Watkins