THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS.

(Translated from the Greek by Nicholas Rowe.)

First to the Gods thy humble Homage pay;
The greatest this, and first of Laws obey:
Perform thy Vows, observe thy plighted Troth,
And let Religion bind thee to thy Oath.
The Heroes next demand thy just regard,
Renown'd on Earth, and to the Stars preferr'd,
To Light and endless Life their Virtues sure Reward.
Due Rites perform and Honours to the Dead,
To ev'ry Wise, to ev'ry pious Shade.

With lowly Duty to thy Parents bow,

And Grace and Favour to thy Kindred show:
For what concerns the rest of Human-kind,
Chuse out the Man to Virtue best inclin'd;
Him to thy Arms receive, him to thy Bosom bind.
Possest of such a Friend, preserve him still;
Nor thwart his Counsels with thy stubborn Will;
Pliant to all his Admonitions prove,

And yield to all his Offices of Love:

Him, from thy Heart, so true, so justly dear,
Let no rash Word nor light Offences tear.

Bear all thou canst, still with his Failings strive,
And to the utmost still, and still forgive;

For strong Necessity alone explores,
The secret Vigour of our latent Pow'rs,
Rouses and urges on the lazy Heart,
Force, to its self unknown before, t' exert.
By use thy stronger Appetites asswage,
Thy Gluttony, thy Sloath, thy Lust, thy Rage:
From each dishonest Act of Shame forbear;
Of others, and thy self, alike beware.

Let Rev'rence of thy self thy Thoughts controul,
And guard the sacred Temple of thy Soul.
Let Justice o'er thy Word and Deed preside,
And Reason ev'n thy meanest Actions guide:
For know that Death is Man's appointed Doom.
Know that the Day of great Account will come,
When thy past Life shall strictly be survey'd,
Each Word, each Deed be in the Ballance laid,
And all the Good and all the Ill most justly be repaid.
For Wealth the perishing, uncertain Good,

Ebbing and flowing like the fickle Flood,

That knows no sure, no fix'd abiding Place,
But wandering Loves from Hand to Hand to pass,
Revolve the Getter's Joy and Looser's Pain,
And think if it be worth thy while to gain.
Of all those Sorrows that attend Mankind,
With Patience bear the Lot to thee assign'd;
Nor think it Chance, nor murmur at the Load;
For know what Man calls Fortune is from God.
In what thou mayst from Wisdom seek Relief,
And let her healing Hand asswage the Grief;
Yet still whate'er the Righteous Doom ordains,
What Cause soever multiplies thy Pains,
Let not those Pains as Ills be understood,
For God delights not to afflict the Good.

The Reas'ning Art to various Ends apply'd,
Is oft a sure, but oft an erring Guide.

Thy Judgment, therefore, sound and cool preserve,
Nor lightly from thy Resolution swerve;

The dazzling Pomp of Words does oft deceive,
And sweet Persuasion wins the easie to believe.

When Fools and Liars labour to persuade,
Be dumb, and let the Bablers vainly plead.

This above all, this Precept chiefly learn,
This nearly does, and first, thy self concern;
Let no Example, let no soothing Tongue,
Prevail upon thee with a Syren's Song,
To do thy Soul's Immortal Essence wrong.
Of Good and Ill by Words or Deeds exprest,
Chuse for thy self, and always chuse the best.

Let wary thought each Enterprize forerun,
And ponder on thy Task before begun,
Lest Folly should the wretched Work deface,
And mock thy fruitless Labours with Disgrace.
Fools huddle on and always are in haste,

Act without Thought, and thoughtless Words they waste,
But thou in all thou dost, with early Cares
Strive to prevent at first a Fate like theirs ;
That Sorrow on the End may never wait,
Nor sharp Repentance make thee Wise too late.
Beware thy medling Hand in ought to try,
That does beyond thy reach of Knowledge lye;
But seek to know, and bend thy serious Thought
To search the profitable Knowledge out.
So Joys on Joys for ever shall encrease,
Wisdom shall crown thy Labours, and shall bless
Thy Life with Pleasure, and thy End with Peace.
Nor let the Body want its Part, but share
A just Proportion of thy tender Care:
For Health and Welfare prudently provide,
And let its lawful Wants be all supply'd.
Let sober Draughts refresh, and wholsome Fare
Decaying Nature's wasted Force repair;
And sprightly Exercise the duller Spirits chear.
In all Things still which to this Care belong,
Observe this Rule, to guard thy Soul from Wrong.

By virtuous Use thy Life and Manners frame,
Manly and simply pure, and free from Blame.
Provoke not Envy's deadly Rage, but fly
The glancing Curse of her malicious Eye.
Seek not in needless Luxury to waste

Thy Wealth and Substance, with a Spendthrift's Haste;
Yet flying these, be watchful, lest thy Mind,
Prone to Extreams, an equal Danger find,
And be to sordid Avarice inclin'd.

Distant alike from each, to neither lean,

But ever keep the happy Golden Mean.

Be careful still to guard thy Soul from Wrong,

And let thy Thought prevent thy Hand and Tongue.
Let not the stealing God of Sleep surprize
Nor creep in Slumbers on thy weary Eyes,
E'er ev'ry Action of the former Day
Strictly thou dost and righteously survey.
With Rev'rence at thy own Tribunal stand,
And answer justly to thy own Demand:

Where have I been? In what have I transgress'd?
What Good or Ill has this Day's Life express'd?
Where have I fail'd in what I ought to do?

In what to God, to Man, or to my self I owe?
Inquire severe whate'er from first to last,

From Morning's Dawn 'till Ev'ning's Gloom has past.
If Evil were thy Deeds, repenting mourn,

And let thy Soul with strong Remorse be torn.
If Good, the Good with Peace of Mind repay,
And to thy secret Self with Pleasure say,
Rejoice, my Heart, for all went well to Day.

These Thoughts and chiefly these thy Mind should move,

Employ thy Study, and engage thy Love.

These are the Rules which will to Virtue lead,

And teach thy Feet her Heav'nly Paths to tread.

THE PYTHAGORIC SENTENCES OF DEMOPHILUS.

(Translated from the Greek by Thomas Taylor.)

1. Request not of Divinity such things as, when obtained, you cannot preserve; for no gift of Divinity can ever be taken away; and on this account he does not confer that which you are unable to retain.

2. Be vigilant in your intellectual part; for sleep about this has an affinity with real death.

3. Divinity sends evil to men, not as being influenced by anger, but for the sake of purification; for anger is foreign from Divinity, since it arises from circumstances taking place contrary to the will; but nothing contrary to the will can happen to a god.

4. When you deliberate whether or not you shall injure another, you will previously suffer the evil yourself which you intended to commit. But neither must you expect any good from the evil; for the manners of every one are correspondent to his life and actions. Every soul, too, is a repository, that which is good, of things good, and that which is evil, of things depraved.

5. After long consultation, engage either in speaking or acting; for you have not the ability to recall either your words or deeds.

6. Divinity does not principally esteem the tongue, but the deeds of the wise; for a wise man, even when he is silent, honours Divinity.

7. A loquacious and ignorant man both in prayer and sacrifice contaminates a divine nature. The wise man, therefore, is alone a priest, is alone the friend of Divinity, and only knows how to pray.

8. The wise man being sent hither naked, should naked invoke him by whom he was sent; for he alone is heard by Divinity, who is not burdened with foreign concerns.