8. THE TASTE OF POTASSIUM CYANIDE
Let me shut the door,
Let me draw the blinds.
Now to fill this cup. With wine?
No, not with wine, but instead
With this liquid whose taste
Still lies unknown to man.
I'll fill this cup to the brim
Though I know a drop
Will suffice to draw my breath,
Yet it will not suffice
For me to know its taste.
Ah, how curious my mind that leads
Me to taste KCN: this liquid.
Should I, still in my teens,
Proceed to taste? Shall I wait?
Wait a few more years? Nay!
Life is of no avail if I
Must tread this earth unknown.
I'll taste and know and let know
Its taste to all mankind.
I shall be remembered.
Now let me raise the cup
To my lips: Alas! I shall
Live not to speak its taste,
But shall tick its taste -
`Sweet' or `salty' or `no taste' -
Which I have in my diary marked.
Now, now to the task.-
O Solitude! be witness to this deed.-
Now, now to taste. Och!-
9. TO TIME
Trek on slowly, as one would on pilgrimage,
If thou be a pilgrim to Eternity.
Mercilessly roll on with tempestuous rage -
Endlessly, if thou must from the Present flee.
10. DEJECTION
When I shall stumble on Time's rock
And fall upon my hidden talent,
Then will not my thoughts mock
My soul which lieth discontent.
11. WHEN I FIGHT...
When I fight a losing battle,
A battle against Satan -
Who wields a fiery baton
And drives men on like cattle -
I ope God's holy word
And read on and on;
And I kneel to the Lord
And find Satan gone!
12.PSALM XLI
He who extends his care
To the poor shall blessed be;
For the Lord shall treat him fair,
And from all sorrows free.
And for him, the Lord shall pave
A path blessed on earth,-
And shall He truly save
From enemies and death.
The Lord shall his bed spread
As he lies sickened;
And upon the languishing bed,
Shall have him strengthened.
O Lord (I said), against thee
Have I sinned; hence
Shew unto me thy mercy,
And heal my soul and cleanse.
Mine enemies do seem to await
My life's end.- And they say
(While I lie in doleful state):
`When shall his name decay?'
And he, who come to see me,
Ill of me speaketh;
And his heart gathers iniquity,
And to all he telleth.
Against me, those who hatred bear,
Together they arise;
And against me they whisper,
And my fall they devise.
And they say, `Unto him cleaveth
An evil disease;
And now that he lieth,
He never again shall rise.'
Even my friend, so intimate,
In whom my trust I placed;
Who with me my bread ate,-
Against me his heel hath raised.
Raise me from this present state,
O Lord, and to me shew
Thy mercy, that I may requite -
With what to them is due.
Then shall I know that thine
Favours art with me;
For those enemies of mine
Do not overcome me.
And thou, O Lord, upholdest
Me in mine integrity,
And me before thy face settest -
For ever to dwell with thee.
Blessed be the everlasting Lord,
The Lord of His chosen men:
Blessed be the everlasting Lord,
Amen and Amen.
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