Ego: If I live to do justice to my own sense of good,
I know I must be free and can do what I ought.
But some deny I can, and some deny I should.
Eyes: Determinists and exponents of Original Sin
Deny the ethical self, nihilists
Moral law - and both do mankind in!
Ego: The dupe knows right, but cannot do it
Till a shrink or the Spirit stirs; the wrecker
Boasts of his freedom, but is stranger to it.
Eyes: The first, self-deceiving, is psyched by an eddy;
The second seeks only the agreeable or useful
But nothing salutary with freedom heady.
Ego: The first one pleads his incapacity (perchance
Some grace?); the second seeks his incapacity,
Looking to his gain and not his essence.
Eyes: The first can’t be genuine about the right he intends;
The second can’t be right about pleasure or utility
Devoid of values or legitimizing ends.
Ego: The first is not awakened by an ideal that fulfils him;
The second, beside himself, sees conscience on the outside,
Resting on mere usage the admonition that thrills him.¹
Eyes: Deep breathe the common air, you self-mortifier!
It’s not your high noon, you manic nihilist!
Do justice to the truth, and do justice to the higher!