The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe Household Edition : with illustrations |
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ESSE QUAM VIDERI. |
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 | The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe |  |
ESSE QUAM VIDERI.
“To be, not seem!”—the phrase is old,
And looks heroic, 't is confessed;
And yet, for all its gloss of gold,
'T will scarcely stand the final test;
For, in effect, full many a truth
Is in the seeming, not the sooth.
And looks heroic, 't is confessed;
And yet, for all its gloss of gold,
'T will scarcely stand the final test;
For, in effect, full many a truth
Is in the seeming, not the sooth.
Be false, then? No!—let Truth appear
In her own guise, if so it be
Her words are such as men may hear
Unhurt, and such as harm not thee;
But guard thy seeming, nor reveal
The fault that silence would conceal.
In her own guise, if so it be
Her words are such as men may hear
Unhurt, and such as harm not thee;
But guard thy seeming, nor reveal
The fault that silence would conceal.
“Open and honest!” sayest thou:
“Why to my neighbor not make known
All ugly soul-spots I avow
To my own conscience as my own;
Plain as the freckles he may trace,
Unasked, upon my hand or face?”
“Why to my neighbor not make known
All ugly soul-spots I avow
To my own conscience as my own;
Plain as the freckles he may trace,
Unasked, upon my hand or face?”
I answer thus: The Mighty One
Who made thy best, immortal part,
Made it invisible, that none
May see thy mind or read thy heart,
Save as thou wilt; else were thy soul
In others', not thine own, control.
Who made thy best, immortal part,
Made it invisible, that none
May see thy mind or read thy heart,
Save as thou wilt; else were thy soul
In others', not thine own, control.
'T is well that God alone can see
The hearts of men that He has made
Within their breasts; since only he
With their infirmities has weighed
Their sins,—to human frailty just,
Knowing full well we are but dust.
The hearts of men that He has made
Within their breasts; since only he
With their infirmities has weighed
Their sins,—to human frailty just,
Knowing full well we are but dust.
And as we hide, for very shame,
With garments cunning Art doth lend,
Whatever of our fleshly frame,
Undraped, would mortal eyes offend
(While to the Maker, ne'er the less,
His power and wisdom we confess);
With garments cunning Art doth lend,
Whatever of our fleshly frame,
Undraped, would mortal eyes offend
(While to the Maker, ne'er the less,
His power and wisdom we confess);
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So let our souls—which, all unclad,
Though fair as souls on earth may be,
Were still a sight to make men sad,
Unmeet for human eyes to see—
In modest drapery conceal
The faults 't were shameful to reveal.
Though fair as souls on earth may be,
Were still a sight to make men sad,
Unmeet for human eyes to see—
In modest drapery conceal
The faults 't were shameful to reveal.
Nay, as, with no unlawful arts,
We deck our forms to make them fair,
Who shall aver our wayward hearts
May not receive an equal care,
That, like our bodies, they may be
In seemly plight for company?
We deck our forms to make them fair,
Who shall aver our wayward hearts
May not receive an equal care,
That, like our bodies, they may be
In seemly plight for company?
| The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe | |