Gabriela Mistral

Here you will find the Poem Decalogue Of The Artist of poet Gabriela Mistral

Decalogue Of The Artist

I. You shall love beauty, which is the shadow of God 
over the Universe. 

II.There is no godless art. Although you love not the 
Creator, you shall bear witness to Him creating His likeness. 

III.You shall create beauty not to excite the senses 
but to give sustenance to the soul. 

IV. You shall never use beauty as a pretext for luxury 
and vanity but as a spiritual devotion. 

V. You shall not seek beauty at carnival or fair 
or offer your work there, for beauty is virginal 
and is not to be found at carnival or fair. 

VI. Beauty shall rise from your heart in song, 
and you shall be the first to be purified. 

VII.The beauty you create shall be known 
as compassion and shall console the hearts of men. 

VIII.You shall bring forth your work as a mother 
brings forth her child: out of the blood of your heart. 

IX. Beauty shall not be an opiate that puts you 
to sleep but a strong wine that fires you to action, 
for if you fail to be a true man or a true woman, 
you will fail to be an artist. 

X. Each act of creation shall leave you humble, 
for it is never as great as your dream and always 
inferior to that most marvelous dream of God 
which is Nature.