IV
Cast ye not stones at your prophets,
For like the birds bards are alone:
They never will return to him
Who casts but once at them a stone.
A nation seeks God’s punishment
When unrevered its bards it wrongs;
And direst is the curse of God,
Whenever he withdraws his songs.
A poet’s heart is truly pure,
And likewise from all wrath apart,
And from his heart whate’er he sings,
That carry thou within thy heart.