The Poems of Frithjof Schuon (1995-1998) The Poems of Frithjof Schuon (1995-1998) Volume 1 Adastra Stella Maris Autumn Leaves The Ring Translated from the German by William Stoddart This is a private edition printed by request only, and is not intended for sale to the general public. © World Wisdom, Inc., all rights reserved. This private edition of the poetry of Frithjof Schuon represents a first translation of the poems written during the last years of his life, as they were created in twenty-three separate volumes. For purposes of economy and space, it comprises the English translation only, without the original German. This translation is the work of William Stoddart, and is largely based on the author's dictated translations, as revised by Catherine Schuon. The order of the books follows the chronology in which they were created, rather than a grouping by collection. www.worldwisdom.com Contents Adastra 9 Stella Maris 81 Autumn Leaves 153 The Ring 237 Notes 306 Index of titles 308 Adastra A Garland of Songs Adastra As an Entry Out of my heart flowed many a song; I sought them not, they were inspired in me — O may the sound of the God-given harp Purify the soul and raise us to Heaven! May the light of wisdom unite With love to accompany our effort; And may our souls find grace: The Path from God to God, eternally. Adastra Ad astra — to the stars — the soul is striving, Called by an unstilled longing. O path of Truth and Beauty that I choose — Of God-remembrance which pervades the soul! Thou art the song that stills all longing — The light of grace; O shine into my heart! The Lord is our Refuge and our Shield — Be thou with Him and He will be with thee. 9 Adastra Memento When thou standest on God’s ground, When thou walkest on God’s path, Never regret what is fleeting — Dreams that the wind sweeps away. The ground of Truth never falters, The path of salvation is solace and light. Before falsehood close thine eyes; The soul’s repose lies in the True. Blessèd is he who is not deluded; He stands firmly on a rock. On thy way do not look back; For the heart’s joy is timeless. It cannot be otherwise: Wrongs and vexations must needs be. Let the Most High be thy Refuge; The last word belongs to Love. Truth and faithfulness are the power That begets all good and makes it prosper. Struggle is indeed the law of time; Eternity sings of Peace. Truth and faithfulness are a power Of which our heart is made. And Light and Love are a song That resounded in God, before time began. 10 Adastra Serenity In God, the Sovereign Good, thou art secure; The Enemy’s work is but vain delusion. So leave aside thy care, be not distressed; Be thou with God and He will be with thee. Ne’er turn thy gaze from Him who is the One; He is the aim and meaning of thy life. The turmoil of the world is in God’s hands, Not in thy power; pay unto it no heed. First resignation, and then trust in God; The way to God is not so far. So may’st thou look, O soul, into the future — Into the light of Eternity. Veritas Firstly the Truth, that clarifies everything; Then our becoming what the Truth proclaims. And then the Name that nourishes with Light — Then Beauty, that flows into the One. Be thou with God, and God will be with thee; Ne’er turn thy gaze from Him who is the One. The living Truth will act in thy heart’s shrine — And all else lies in the Hands of God. 11 Adastra The Fortress Truth is a mighty fortress; In the True thou shouldst abide. At early dawn recall it, And evening will reward thee. Earthly trivialities will weigh thee down In an idle web of dreams. The soul is weary; the spirit wakes That it may soar aloft. The Enigma The world-sea, with the good and with the bad, Earthly triviality with its false plenitude And its din; who can resolve the enigma? Heart, be at peace; abide in God’s Silence. Whatever, under heaven’s vault, bears witness to Eden, Is not worldly; let not thy mind torment thee: Beauty is not wholly of this world. It is from God to God — like thine own soul. 12 Adastra Cosmos Wherever light appears, Darkness must also threaten; Do not wonder and grieve, Existence will have it thus. See how the lower powers Maliciously battle the higher; Wherever an Abel shines, There is also a tenebrous Cain. For God’s All-Possibility Also demands negation: Truth and peace are of Heaven, Of earth are falsehood and war. Without the evil of separation, Where would be the good of reunion? Without the doings of darkness, Where would be solace and victory? Mystery I must indeed, my God, be who I am — If I were someone else, I still would be, in this vast world, The self-same wanderer. Rare is the child of man who is like unto The One that is — Thou, O Lord, lookest at the changing play of souls— Thou alone art “I.” It is written: the Lord is my Shepherd — Thou knowest, O heart, that thou shalt not want. 13 Adastra Song of Time World-wheel, deep primordial song of coming and going, Thou turnest for eons, on and on. Countless existences that blossomed overnight, Hast thou brought back to coldest naught. So thou turnest, world-wheel, till the Hand of the Most High Brings thee to a halt at cycle’s end. Thy song now hushed, fading in ultimate silence, One thing alone remains: the Will of Him who does not change. World-Wheel Even when lost in deepest sleep — The world-wheel rises up again to being, Creating, destroying, never standing still; It must be what it is — according to God’s Will. Possibility We are but possibility, and not, like God, Necessity, a property that belongs not to man. But we can belong to it, if it so will, Then the “perhaps” can no longer delude us. Then it is God’s Being that works through us, And our ego is but an existential envelope In the realm of time. May Providence ordain That what we are, will fulfill the meaning of Existence. 14 Adastra Association The wise man and the noble man, Both should be present in every soul. The wise man looks inward, toward Being, The noble man must associate with the world. For, whether we like it or not, we live In this world, and among other beings — For we are brothers, and we must see Our own “I” in the self of other men. Wisdom also dwells in Mâyâ — in our soul, And nobility is in the mind that sees Atmâ. Grace What means it that thou art in God’s Hands? Is it that God has determined thy fate? God’s will is that thou shouldst freely decide What liberates thy soul from folly’s weight. Man — within All-Possibility — created himself: He is what he wished to be. He wished himself with all the consequences — But grace comes from the Lord alone. O mercy, that resolves the enigma of existence, Now law, now free compassion That never calculates — like a rainshower That brings life and proclaims the Highest Good — Thus did God will that Love protect us. 15 Adastra Justice How does God look upon man’s sin? Truth judges; beauty wishes to forgive. Clearly, misdeeds are what they are, But in the soul there is a deeper life. When our sins inflame God’s Wrath, God still can combine His Justice with Love. Deem not His Justice to be blind — It looks at what we are in depth. God grant that severity of reckoning Be countered by the redeeming songs Of the Love which, before His Wrath, Lay — and lies — deep within His Being, and which has called us. It may be I proclaim things widely known: Not every sin touches the depth of the soul. 16 Adastra Manifestation God has manifested Himself; This is the value of Creation. Manifestation means separation; But the Divine Ray remains unaffected. God has driven Being Deeply into nothingness. And yet it is written: World cannot be divine. The heart wants to be holy And stands before God’s gate. If there is a Paradise on earth, It is here, yes, here. The Question What can liberate man from the world? It is said, it is the question who we are. This may well sow some wisdom in the soul, But without God it is gone with the wind. For without God, what can thinking achieve? What would wisdom be, if Him I did not call? In His grace the soul must repose. What liberates us is God in our very depths. 17 Adastra The Veil Dream-veil world: who understands thy play? A wonder-work of a thousand dream-webs So often wildly shaken when destiny’s winds blow; Who can lift the veil of the dark Isis? For this garment both conceals and reveals; Thou canst not see the secret; but the Will Of the Creator appears in the colorful fullness That circles around the unseen Center. What is the ultimate meaning of all this? Exteriorization with a view to interiorization; When the images of the here-below rush past, We must cause them — God willing — to draw us inwards.