Classic Poem

(1)

" O watchman, how long this sloth and heavy sleep?
Sleep is not for the watchman; O, raise thy head from slumber!
Behold thy flock without watchman or shepherd,
On one side the raging wolf, on the other the roaring lion;
That one snatches the morsel from the claws of this one, and this one from that one,
Each one having dyed his claws and fangs with the blood of this flock.
The watchman drunk, the flock preoccupied, the enemy watchful —
The matter rests with God, for it has passed out of our hands!

(2)

" Accept advice freely, O King, from this loyal nature:
Seek not for fairness from the foul, nor friendliness from thy neighbours;
Then put away out of thine head the words of these worthless ones:
How long wilt thou seek for constancy from these inconstant ones?
Thy kingdom, O Prince, is a treasure, a royal treasure,
And I fear, O King, lest this treasure may slip from thy hands without a struggle.
A wondrous treasure hast thou got in thy hands without trouble!
O King, since thou hast obtained it without trouble, how shouldst thou know the value of the treasure?

*****

" All these monuments of the Kings, O prince, are no vain tale;
A king, O King, cannot dispense with kingly qualities.
Kingship does not befit every sluggard and madman;
Yea, it is the candle, not the moth, which illuminates the banquet!
Lo and behold, in this house there is no master save thee,
Yet is there no house so desolate as thine, O Prince!
Arise, cause thy house to prosper by Justice and Bounty,
And, little by little, put away the stranger from thee! "