III. Ching Chih
III
The Ching Chih; narrative. The young king shows his sense of what was required of him to preserve the favor of Heaven, a constant judge; intimates his good purposes; and asks the help of his ministers to be enabled to fulfill them.
With reverence I will go
Where duty's path is plain.
Heaven's will I clearly know;
Its favor to retain p. 453
Is hard. Let me not say
Heaven is remote on high,
Nor notices men's way.
There in the starlit sky
It round about us moves,
Inspecting all we do,
And daily disapproves
What is not just and true.
Where duty's path is plain.
Heaven's will I clearly know;
Its favor to retain p. 453
Is hard. Let me not say
Heaven is remote on high,
Nor notices men's way.
There in the starlit sky
It round about us moves,
Inspecting all we do,
And daily disapproves
What is not just and true.
Only a child am I.
Treading in duty's way,
With effort vain I try
Due reverence to display.
Each day throughout the year,
How slight the progress seems!
But to the vision clear
I'll pass from broken gleams.
Aid then my feeble youth
To bear the heavy crown.
Teach me the right and truth
Through all my life to own.