AIMS AND IDEALS


VI

Give thou to God no more than he asketh of thee; but to man also, that
which is man's. In all that thou doest, work from thine own heart,
simply; for his heart is as thine, when thine is wise and humble; and he
shall have understanding of thee. One drop of rain is as another, and
the sun's prism in all: and shalt not thou be as he, whose lives are the
breath of One? Only by making thyself his equal can he learn to hold
communion with thee, and at last own thee above him. Not till thou lean
over the water shalt thou see thine image therein: stand erect, and it
shall slope from thy feet and be lost. Know that there is but this means
whereby thou mayst serve God with man.... Set thine hand and thy soul to
serve man with God....

Chiaro, servant of God, take now thine Art unto thee, and paint me thus,
as I am, to know me; weak, as I am, and in the weeds of this time; only
with eyes which seek out labour, and with a faith, not learned, yet
jealous of prayer. Do this; so shall thy soul stand before thee always,
and perplex thee no more.

_Rossetti._


VII

I know that this world is a world of imagination and vision. I see