48 Plato and Christ. In our dear Lord to act and being grew, Whose life was more than words could ever teach. A heart that beat for every human woe, In Him, thy God, O Plato, dwelt on earth, So have we sufferings, so a trust like his, And peace of spirit even here below. Then be it mine the cross with him to bear, So clearness, meekness, and unfaltering might, Ungained, though bravely sought, O Sage, by thee, Shall be my starry chaplet in the night, And in the coming dawn my crown shall be. ON A LIFE MISSPENT IN VANITY AND PASSION. I'vo piangendo i miei passati tempi, Tu, che vedi i miei mali indegni ed empi, Sì che, s' io vissi in guerra ed in tempesta, Mora in pace ed in porto; e se la stanza Fu vana, almen sia la partita onesta. A quel poco di viver che m' avanza, Ed al morir, degni esser tua man presta: Tu sai ben che 'n altrui non ho speranza! SIN. LORD, with what care hast thou begirt us round! Deliver us to laws; they send us bound Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin, Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness, The sound of glory ringing in our ears; Without, our shame; within, our consciences; Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears, – Yet all these fences, and their whole array, FOR FORGIVENESS. WILT thou forgive that sin where I begun, Which was my sin, though it were done be fore? Wilt thou forgive that sin through which I run, And do run still, though still I do deplore? When thou hast done, thou hast not done, For I have more. Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun And having done that, thou hast done, – I fear no more. ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT, O LORD! LORD, many times I am aweary quite Of mine own self, my sin, my vanity; Yet be not thou, or I am lost outright, Weary of me! And hate against myself I often bear, Best friends might loathe us, if what things per verse We know of our own selves, they also knew: Lord, Holy One! if thou, who knowest worse, Shouldst loathe us too! |