 | Poems |  |
165
[“Learn to Live,” “Remember Death,”]
“The inscription Think How To Live is admirable, and the more so, because
it calls to mind the detestable Memento Mori, and triumphs over it beautifully.”
—Schiller to Goëthe, criticising Wilhelm Meister.
“Learn to Live,” “Remember Death,”
Are not maxims that oppose.
Life, that wafts not on a breath
Nor with pulses ebbs and flows,
Diligently learn:
Are not maxims that oppose.
Life, that wafts not on a breath
Nor with pulses ebbs and flows,
Diligently learn:
Death, not Life's antagonist,
But consoler, glorifier;
Transcendental realist;
Sure, and daily drawing nigher,—
Joyfully discern.
But consoler, glorifier;
Transcendental realist;
Sure, and daily drawing nigher,—
Joyfully discern.
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