And by self-murder seeking higher life;
On one foot standing till the other pine,
Arms stretched aloft, fingers grown bloodless claws,
Or else, impaled on spikes, with festering sores
Covered from head to foot, the body wastes
With constant anguish and with slow decay.[12]
"Can this be wisdom? Can such a life be good
That shuns all duties lying in our path--
Useless to others, filled with grief and pain?
Not so my father's god teaches to live.
Rising each morning most exact in time,
He bathes the earth and sky with rosy light
And fills all nature with new life and joy;
The cock's shrill clarion calls us to awake
And breathe this life and hear the bursts of song
That fill each grove, inhale the rich perfume
Of opening flowers, and work while day shall last.
Then rising higher, he warms each dank, cold spot,
Dispels the sickening vapors, clothes the fields
With waving grain, the trees with golden fruit,
The vines with grapes; and when 'tis time for rest,
Sinks in the west, and with new glory gilds
The mountain-tops, the clouds and western sky,
And calls all nature to refreshing sleep.
If he be God, the useful are like God;
If not, God made the sun, who made all men
And by his great example teaches them
The diligent are wise, the useful good."

Sorely perplexed he called his counselors,