The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03 - Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Unknown
page 73 of 855 (08%)
page 73 of 855 (08%)
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Man is made FREE!--Man, by birthright, is free, Though the tyrant may deem him but born for his tool. Whatever the shout of the rabble may be-- Whatever the ranting misuse of the fool-- Still fear not the Slave, when he breaks from his chain, For the Man made a Freeman grows safe in his gain. And Virtue is more than a shade or a sound, And Man may her voice, in this being, obey; And though ever he slip on the stony ground, Yet, ever again to the godlike way, To the _science_ of Good though the Wise may be blind, Yet the _practice_ is plain to the childlike mind. And a God there is--over Space, over Time; While the Human Will rocks, like a reed, to and fro, Lives the Will of the Holy--A Purpose Sublime, A Thought woven over creation below; Changing and shifting the All we inherit, But changeless through all One Immutable Spirit! Hold fast the Three Words of Belief--though about From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee; Yet they take not their birth from the being without-- But a voice from within must their oracle be; And never all worth in the Man can be o'er, Till in those Three Words he believes no more. * * * * * |
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