Page:Zinzendorff and Other Poems.pdf/131

Rh As a foul gangrene, to the Healer turned, Bathed, and were whole. So now with humble step Their penal course they measure, giving still The day to toil, and meeting every night, In solitude, reflection's chastening glance, Which wounds to purify. There, too, doth glide Fair Charity, prompting to deeds divine The unaccustomed pupil, while he cons, 'Mid the deep silence of a lonely bed, His Bible lesson; seeks a deeper root For Christian purpose, or anticipates Glad Freedom's sacred gift. Ye whom our God Hath held from deep transgression, be not proud; Nor, in the heat of passion, haste to weigh A brother's fault. The eternal Judge himself (When by the sin of ingrate Adam moved) Came not to Eden till the cool of day. And since that hour, when first the vengeful sword Wav'd o'er the forfeit gate of Paradise, Man hath been wayward, weak, and prone to fall Beneath temptation's wile, and so must be Unto the dooms-day burning. Then let his bitterest discipline be mixed In Mercy's cup, that so the prison cell May work his soul's salvation; and the "law. Like school-master" severe, the truant bring To Christ, his advocate and righteousness.