28.10.2007, 09:17
THE STRICKEN DEER.
’T IS said, that if a stag with bleeding wound
Return to where his first companions feed,
They have no pity for him in his need ;
But turn with cruel horns, and gore him round.
So with the darkened spirit, I have found,
Whom weight of care should to his fellows lead :
They cry, 'This man has lost all grace indeed,
Or never had it ; - closed in self and bound :
Nor see that God's vast love and wisdom meet
Beyond the limits of their narrow way :
That purest gold is fined by fiercest heat :
And cloudy mornings oft make clearest day :
With hardest strokes the firmest steel is beat :
And strongest vessel formed of well-trod clay.
’T IS said, that if a stag with bleeding wound
Return to where his first companions feed,
They have no pity for him in his need ;
But turn with cruel horns, and gore him round.
So with the darkened spirit, I have found,
Whom weight of care should to his fellows lead :
They cry, 'This man has lost all grace indeed,
Or never had it ; - closed in self and bound :
Nor see that God's vast love and wisdom meet
Beyond the limits of their narrow way :
That purest gold is fined by fiercest heat :
And cloudy mornings oft make clearest day :
With hardest strokes the firmest steel is beat :
And strongest vessel formed of well-trod clay.