 | The poetical works of John Greenleaf Whittier |  |
ORIENTAL MAXIMS.
PARAPHRASE OF SANSCRIT TRANSLATIONS.
THE INWARD JUDGE.
From Institutes of Manu.
The soul itself its awful witness is.
Say not in evil doing, “No one sees,”
And so offend the conscious One within,
Whose ear can hear the silences of sin
Ere they find voice, whose eyes unsleeping see
The secret motions of iniquity.
Say not in evil doing, “No one sees,”
And so offend the conscious One within,
Whose ear can hear the silences of sin
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The secret motions of iniquity.
Nor in thy folly say, “I am alone.”
For, seated in thy heart, as on a throne,
The ancient Judge and Witness liveth still,
To note thy act and thought; and as thy ill
Or good goes from thee, far beyond thy reach,
The solemn Doomsman's seal is set on each.
For, seated in thy heart, as on a throne,
The ancient Judge and Witness liveth still,
To note thy act and thought; and as thy ill
Or good goes from thee, far beyond thy reach,
The solemn Doomsman's seal is set on each.
1878.
LAYING UP TREASURE.
From the Mahàbhárata.
Before the Ender comes, whose charioteerIs swift or slow Disease, lay up each year
Thy harvests of well-doing, wealth that kings
Nor thieves can take away. When all the things
Thou callest thine, goods, pleasures, honors fall,
Thou in thy virtue shalt survive them all.
1881.
CONDUCT.
From the Mahàbhárata.
Heed how thou livest. Do no act by dayWhich from the night shall drive thy peace away.
In months of sun so live that months of rain
Shall still be happy. Evermore restrain
Evil and cherish good, so shall there be
Another and a happier life for thee.
1881.
| The poetical works of John Greenleaf Whittier | |