Classic Poem

To a Young Friend About to Take Up Philosophy

Many a task in his youth the Grecian had to accomplish
Ere he a coveted home could in Eleusis attain.
Art thou ready thyself to approach that holy of holies,
Where her wondrous stores Pallas Athene preserves?
Knowest thou all that awaits thee there, how dear is the bargain,
Which at a cost defined purchases what is unknown?
Hast thou vigour enough that hardest battle to venture,
Where the reflecting mind, heart and the conscience oppose?
Hast thou courage to face fell doubt's irresistible demon,
And like a man to meet foes who do battle within?
Hast thou an innocent heart, and an eye sufficiently healthy
Trickery to detect garbed in the semblance of truth?
Then, an thou be not sure of the guide in thine intimate, bosom,
Fly from the edge in time, fly from the yawning abyss!
Many who seek for light plunge headlong into the darkness;
But a child can walk safe in the glimmer of eve.EnglishJohann Christoph Friedrich Von Schiller