Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
336 SKETCHES.
good, and feels peace. In order to work on uninterruptedly,
in order not to weary in his work for the weal of fellow-
men, he does not want the “desire of a name which
shall survive him;” not glory’s beautiful w’ston, which a
great Roman calls “the only passion of the wise,” and
without which to many a one “the past were nothing, the
present a narrow and sterile sphere of action, and the future
vanished.” No, no laurel-wreath shall be laid upon his
forgotten grave ; no line in a funeral-oration shall be dedi-
cated to him; no patriotic bard shall sing what he did for
his native country. He will be forgotten, he Knows it, and
yet he labors night and day, and his lamp is not extinguished
until with his life’s last spark. Here a fellow-creature has
been comforted, there another has been given work to
do, and with it hope; here a seed has been sown of a
future noble laurel, which will confer honor upon his native
country and upon mankind; there again a spark has been
kindled, a flame kept burning, and here happiness secured
—the good has been done; that is enough.
“Doth pure religion gather here below
A harvest of unfruitful treasures ? No,
Unpaid, unthanked, she with unceasing toil
Sows seeds of blessedness in sorrow’s soil.’
Fall freely, O days of our life! —silently, like yellow
leaves from life’s tree; cover its stem and branches, ye
wintry snows; oblivion! take his memory. What to him
is all this? The good has been done — that is enough.
Yes, it is enough for him, but not for me. Like a bee I
would wish to fly over the world’s fields, to gather honey
out of these beautiful, but hidden and modest flowers, and
store it in the hives of memory, in order that men might
see and taste how sweet it is, and rejoice at it.:
I pause. Friendly reader! when I invited thee to enter
into my balloon, I promised to carry thee to “ the home of
comfort and happiness.” I have fulfilled my promise, and
I will not now, like a honey-bee, persuade thee to a fresh
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
