IF YOU WOULD LIVE WELL, THEN STRIVE (Rasamindrakotroka Andry Tiana)

Life here below demands your fullest will,
Each minute counts—be steadfast, striving still;
It is not dreams that set the world in motion,
But what we build through time and true devotion.

True progress is not found in empty claim,
But in the work returned again and again;
Life smiles on those who rise with purpose clear,
Who see things through, in cold or heat severe.

When sweat runs down, it is your bread you earn,
Each day of labour brings a just return;
Your way of life, though quiet, shall ascend,
If all you give is offered to the end.

And step by step, the path grows bright and sure,
The mind grows light, the heart becomes more pure;
All falls in place beneath a cloudless sky,
And you shall pass with no regret gone by.

But shun deceit, the crooked, hidden ways,
Those who take gain while truth they dare betray;
Ill-gotten wealth will one day turn and fall,
And fate will strip the promise from it all.

Avoid those hands that plunder from the land,
The suited thieves who rule with silent hand;
While common folk grow poorer, day by day,
They feast on gold and turn their eyes away.

Yet bear in mind: life hastens as it goes,
The sun will rise, and gently set and close;
Seek further still what death cannot oppose—
For life begins where mortal being slows.

RASAMINDRAKOTROKA Andry Tiana
19 July 2025
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