XIII Metamorphoses

(Changes of Form)
Apes goggle from their cyan sandy cage,
They stare at finest specimens of Man,
Their greatest soldier, and their wisest sage,
Are naught but ash to those whose legs can stand!
Those noble ones are Nature's best design,
Selected not by Her but by themselves,
Their willed success, against the foes of time,
Evolves them from the bestial to themselves!
To cross the desert sand they boarded ships,
To till the Promised Land, they used their will,
They dipped and dodged despair from death's own lips,
To match the woes of Nature with their skill!
No clan of apes can match these Israelites;
They fear defear while suns alight their nights!
-Vir Cogitans Americanus
Scribit Dies XIII Septembris, Anno Domini MMVII

XII Vita Bona

(The Good Life)
The man of virtue is the only Man,
The law of virtue is the only Law,
The only ever fully happy land
Is in the self of Him without a flaw!
Remorse for ev'ry sin is part of life,
The cry of torment, parcel of the soul-
If only one could end the horrid strife
Between his action and his Perfect Goal!
Is sorrow not the opposite of joy?
Is evil not the opposite of good?
Is life a boon, if one must self-destroy,
Because one never does what'ere he should?
Is he who stumbles verily alive,
If he has not a purpose to survive?
-Vir Cogitans Americanus
Scribit Dies IV Septembris, Anno Domini MMVII

XI Amor Prudentitatis

(The Love of Wisdom)
A summer spent in leisurely distress,
Teh windless heat burns down upon the soul,
No joy is full, all life is but a mess,
A mix of pointless passion, empty goals!
Then what- I hear a voice among the trees,
The silence broke by tremors of the sun!
I feel, to end the heat, a cooling breeze-
Which seeks to finish answers left undone!
I am a man, a thinker and a sage,
The world is matter geared to higher cause,
All life is beauty, sung from age to age,
All death does serve the Master's Holy Laws!
As daybreak floods the land with blazing light,
The silence ends with songs of wrong and right!
-Vir Cogitans Americanus
Scribit Dies II Septrembris, Anno Domini MMVII

X Temperantia

(Temperance/ Moderation)
The world has never been a perfect place,
At least we can't remember if it was.
Yet listen, ye reformers, in your haste-
You err too much in fighting what it does.
No virtue on its own can be enought-
The courage without principle is dead;
A wisdom lost for action is but fluff,
And careless kindness ever weighs as lead.
Ye mustn't pick but one to be your guide-
To follow one is folly in the least,
It would be worse than if you hadn't tried,
Obsession makes a demon of the priest.
To right the wrongs that everyone can see,
The virtues must be mixed in harmony.
-Vir Cogitans Americanus
Scribit Dies XXVIII Iunii, Anno Domini MMVII

IX Complexio Animantis

(The Creature's Dilemma)
I long to find the path of highest worth,
On which I may fulfill and be fulfilled,
To chance return the love which made my birth,
And match the will by which my life was willed.
Yet how can one repay so great a debt?
My very life itself was paid in full,
This very gift I find I must regret,
When duty is, my purpose, to fulfill.
For how is one to know why he was formed?
His conscience must direct his ev'ry step,
And if unto its path he's not conformed,
What justice can he do to pay his debt?
The sinner needs forgiveness to rebuild,
To rest in peace, and be in short, fulfilled.
-Vir Cogitans Americanus
Scribit Dies XXVIII Iunii, Anno Domini MMVII

VIII Bellum Tacitum

(The Silent War)
Oh, when and where have men of virtue gone?
Their footsteps died away an age ago,
We strain to hear their noble fading song,
While rising up the banner of its foe.
That noblest excuse for lechery-
The artistry and pleasure of the base
Does ever hail that grand debauchery,
The beauty that is shallow in its haste.
Pale art is not alone in its attempt,
Cruel science holds its standard higher still.
The works of Man do ever seem unkept,
And power over nature boosts his will.
The artistry and virtue are at war,
Indulgence and the gloried days of yore.
-Vir Cogitans Americanus
Scribit dies XXVII Iunii, Anno Domini MMVII