John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Oriental Maxims

John Greenleaf Whittier

“Oriental Maxims” as printed in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).

John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics Text 97 1895 · historical text
Public domainBalladAmerican song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

The soul itself its awful witness is.

Say not in evil doing, “No one sees,”

And so offend the conscious One within,

Whose ear can hear the silences of sin

Ere they find voice, whose eyes unsleeping see

The secret motions of iniquity.

Nor in thy folly say, “I am alone.”

For, seated in thy heart, as on a throne,

The ancient Judge and Witness liveth still,

To note thy act and thought; and as thy ill

Or good goes from thee, far beyond thy reach,

The solemn Doomsman’s seal is set on each.

Verse 2

Before the Ender comes, whose charioteer

Is swift or slow Disease, lay up each year

Thy harvests of well-doing, wealth that kings

Nor thieves can take away. When all the things

Thou callest thine, goods, pleasures, honors fall,

Thou in thy virtue shalt survive them all.

Verse 3

Heed how thou livest. Do no act by day

Which from the night shall drive thy peace away.

In months of sun so live that months of rain

Shall still be happy. Evermore restrain

Evil and cherish good, so shall there be

Another and a happier life for thee.

Credits

Written by John Greenleaf Whittier

Words by John Greenleaf Whittier. Historical text published in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895), “Oriental Maxims”

Every text in this 1895 collected edition is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), who died more than 133 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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