Testament (1829)

 

No thing on earth to nought can fall,

The Eternal onward moves in all;

Rejoice, by being be sustained.

Being is deathless: living wealth,

With which the All adorns itself,

By laws abides and is maintained.

 

Long since, the true was found and could

Spirits join in brotherhood;

The ancient truth set hand upon.

Thank now the sage, O child of earth,

Who showed her and her kin the path

For circuiting about the sun.

 

Now turn yourself about, within:

Your centre you will find therein,

No noble soul can this gainsay.

No principle within you'll miss,

For independent conscience is

The sun that rules your moral day.

 

The senses next you must believe;

With nothing false will they deceive

If intellect keeps you awake.

Be fresh of eye, with joy attend;

A way, footsure and supple, wend,

A walk in worlds of pasture take.

 

Be moderate when blessings flow,

Good sense in every detail show

Where life is in its ecstasies;

Then bygone time gives permanence,

The future lives, and in advance:

Eternity the moment is.

 

Should you at last your end attain,

The feeling flow in every vein

That fruitfulness alone is true,

You'll scrutinize the common round,

Its general habit having found

You'll be advised to join the few.

 

And as in secret down the years

The poets, the philosophers

Shape works of love, each to his will,

The finest favour you'll assay:

For noble souls, feel out the way

­No task is more desirable.

 

 

Translated by Christopher Middleton