Know Thyself--Excerpts--Ralph Waldo Emerson

IV

Give up to thy soul----- 
Let it have its way----- 
It is, I tell thee, God himself, 
The selfsame One that rules the Whole, 
Tho’ he speaks thro’ thee with a stifled voice, 
And looks through thee, shorn of his beams. 
But if thou listen to his voice, 
If thou obey the royal thought, 
It will grow clearer to thine ear, 
More glorious to thine eye. 
The clouds will burst that veil him now 
And thou shalt see the Lord.

VI

This is the reason why thou dost recognize 
Things now first revealed, 
Because in thee resides 
The Spirit that lives in all; 
And thou canst learn the laws of nature 
Because its author is latent in thy breast.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2019

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