Page:The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Volume 08.djvu/103



We rest our hopes on Thy free grace alone,

Nor seek by merits for our sins to atone;

Mercy drops where it lists, and estimates

Ill done as undone, good undone as done.

This is the form Thou gavest me of old,

Wherein Thou workest marvels manifold;

Can I aspire to be a better man,

Or other than I issued from Thy mold?

O Lord! to Thee all creatures worship pay,

To Thee both small and great forever pray,

Thou takest woe away, and givest weal,

Give then, or, if it please Thee, take away!

With going to and fro in this sad vale

Thou art grown double, and thy credit stale,

Thy nails are thickened like a horse's hoof,

Thy beard is ragged as an ass's tail.

O unenlightened race of humankind,

Ye are a nothing, built on empty wind!

Yea, a mere nothing, hovering in the abyss,

A void before you, and a void behind!

Each morn I say, "To-night I will repent

Of wine, and tavern-haunts no more frequent ";

But while 'tis spring, and roses are in bloom,

To loose me from my promise, O consent!