so beautifully, and seems so wise, that it may easily
settle down into the mind as a maxim and rule of life. Had we been told
in plain prose to take no rest, without the beautiful simile of the
star, and without the wise restriction about haste, our common sense
would have rebelled at once; but as both beauty and wisdom exist
together in the gem-like stanza, our judgment remains silent in charmed
acquiescence.

Let us ask ourselves, however, about this stella example, whether man is
naturally so constituted as to be able to imitate it. A planet moves
without haste, because it is incapable of excitement; and without rest,
because it is incapable of fatigue. A planet makes no effort, and
encounters no friction or resistance of any kind. Man is so constituted
as to feel frequently the stimulus of excitement, which immediately
translates itself either into actual acceleration or into the desire for
acceleration--a desire which cannot be restrained without an effort; and
whatever man undertakes to do he encounters friction and resistance,
which, for him, always sooner or later inevitably induce fatigue. Man is
neither constituted like a star nor situated like a star, and therefore
it is not possible for him to exist as stars exist.

You will object to this criticism that it handles a delicate little poem
very roughly, and you may tell me that I am unfit to receive the wisdom
of the poets, which is always uttered with a touch of Oriental
exaggeration. Certainly Goethe could never mean that a man should kill
himself by labors literally incessant. Goethe's own life is the best
elucidation of his true meaning. The example of the star was held up to
us to be followed only within the limits of our human nature, as a
Christian points to the example of Christ. In the same spirit Matthew
Arnold wrote his noble poem "Self-dependence," in which he tells us to
live like the stars and the sea:--

"Ah, once more," I cried, "ye stars, ye waters,
On my heart your mighty charm renew;
Still, still let me, as I gaze upon you,
Feel my soul becoming vast like you."

From the intense, clear, star-sown vault of heaven,
Over the lit sea's unquiet way,
In the rustling night-air came the answer:
"Wouldst thou _be_ as these are? _Live_ as they.

"Unaffrighted by the silence round them,
Undistracted by the sights they see,
These demand not that the things without them
Yield them love, amusement, sy