Fierce conserver, fierce destroyer, —
But thou, joy-giver and enjoyer,
Unknowing war, unknowing crime,
Gentle Saadi, mind thy rhyme;
Heed not what the brawlers say,
Heed thou only Saadi's lay.

'Let the great world bustle on

With war and trade, with camp and town:

A thousand men shall dig and eat;

At forge and furnace thousands sweat;
And thousands sail the purple sea,

And give or take the stroke of war,
Or crowd the market and bazaar;
Oft shall war end, and peace return,
And cities rise where cities burn,
Ere one man my hill shall climb,
Who can turn the golden rhyme.

Let them manage how they may,
Heed thou only Saadi's lay.

Seek the living among the dead,—

Man in man is imprisoned;

Barefooted Dervish is not poor,
If fate unlock his bosom's door,

So that what his eye hath seen

His tongue can paint as bright, as keen; And what his tender heart hath felt

With equal fire thy heart shall melt.

For, whom the Muses smile upon,
And touch with soft persuasion,

His words like a storm-wind can bring

Terror and beauty on their wing;

In his every syllable

Lurketh nature veritable;

And though he speak in midnight dark,

In heaven no star, on earth no spark,

Yet before the listener's eye

Swims the world in ecstasy,

The forest waves, the morning breaks,
The pastures sleep, ripple the lakes,
Leaves twinkle, flowers like persons be,
And life pulsates in rock or tree.
Saadi, so far thy words shall reach :

Suns rise and set in Saadi's speech!'

And thus to Saadi said the Muse:

'Eat thou the bread which men refuse;

Flee from the goods which from thee flee;
Seek nothing,- Fortune seeketh thee.

Nor mount, nor dive; all good things keep
The midway of the eternal deep.
Wish not to fill the isles with eyes
To fetch thee birds of paradise:
On thine orchard's edge belong
All the brags of plume and song;
Wise Ali's sunbright sayings pass
For proverbs in the market-place;
Through mountains bored by regal art,
Toil whistles as he drives his cart.
Nor scour the seas, nor sift mankind,
A poet or a friend to find:

Behold, he watches at the door!

Behold his shadow on the floor!

Open innumerable doors

The heaven where unveiled Allah pours
The flood of truth, the flood of good,

The Seraph's and the Cherub's food:

Those doors are men: the Pariah hind

Admits thee to the perfect Mind.
Seek not beyond thy cottage wall
Redeemers that can yield thee all :
While thou sittest at thy door
On the desert's yellow floor,
Listening to the gray-haired crones,
Foolish gossips, ancient drones,
Saadi, see! they rise in stature

To the height of mighty Nature,
And the secret stands revealed
Fraudulent Time in vain concealed, -

That blessed gods in servile masks

Plied for thee thy household tasks.'

HOLIDAYS.

FROM fall to spring the russet acorn,
Fruit beloved of maid and boy,

Lent itself beneath the forest,

To be the children's toy.

Pluck it now! In vain, -thou canst not; Its root has pierced yon shady mound;

Toy no longer-it has duties;

It is anchored in the ground.

Year by year the rose-lipped maiden,
Playfellow of young and old,

Was frolic sunshine, dear to all men,

More dear to one than mines of gold.