Fierce conserver, fierce destroyer, '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; Let them manage how they may, Seek the living among the dead, — Barefooted Dervish is not poor, 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, His words like a storm-wind can bring 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, And thus to Saadi said the Muse: 'Eat thou the bread which men refuse; Flee from the goods which from thee flee; Nor mount, nor dive; all good things keep 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 Seraph's and the Cherub's food: Those doors are men: the Pariah hind Admits thee to the perfect Mind. Plied for thee thy household tasks.' HOLIDAYS. FROM fall to spring the russet acorn, 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, Was frolic sunshine, dear to all men, More dear to one than mines of gold. |