Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

Tavern caught Better than in the Temple lost outri^t. lies] ', ^ 'I Y SECOND EDITION LXXXIV What ! out of senseless Nothing to provoke A conscious Something to resent the yoke Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain Of Everlasting Penalties, if broke !

LXXXV What! from his helpless Creature be repaid Pure Grold for what he lent us dross-allayM- Sue for a Debt we never did contract, And cannot answer — Oh the sorry trade! LXXXVI Nay, but, for terror of his wrathful Face, ' I swear I will not call Injustice grace; Not one Grood Fellow of the Tavern but Would kick so poor a Coward from the place. [ 165] t H SECOND EDITION LXXXVII Oh Thou^ iiiio didst with pitfall and with gin Beset the Road I was to wander in, Thou wilt not with Predestined Evil round Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin?

Lxxxvm"-^ Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make, And ev^n with Paradise devise the Snake: For all the Sin the Face of wretched Man Is black with — Man^s Foigiveness give — and take. [l«Tl r i? A 1: I f SECOND EDITION liXxnz As under cover of departing Day Slunk hunger-stridcen Ramaz^n away, Once more within the Potter'^s house alone I stood, surrounded by the Shapes of Clay. xc And once again there gathered a scarce heard Whisper amo^ them; as it were, the stirred Ashes of some all but extinguisht Tongue, Which mine ear kindled into living Word. xci Said one among them — ^^Surely not in vain, ^My Substance from the common Earth was ta'^en, ^*That He who subtly wrought me into Shape ^^Should stamp me back to shapeless Earth again 7"^ [169] ' If SECOND EDITION xcn Another said, ^^Why, ne^er a peevish Boy ^^Would break the Cup from which he drank in Joy; ^Shall He that 6f his own free Fancy made **The Vessel, in an after-rage destroy!^ xcm None answered this; but after silence spake Some Vessel of a more ungainly Make; ^They sneer at me for leaning all awry; <'What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"* xciv Thus with the Dead as with the Living, What?

And Whyf so ready, but the Wher^fbr not. One on a sudden peevishly exclaimed. Which is the Potter, pray, and which the Pot?^ [171] <c SECOND EDITION xcv Said one — ^^Folks of a surly Master tell, "And daub his Visage with the Smoke of HeU; "They talk of some sharp Trial of us — Pish!

"He's a good Fellow, and 't will all be well." xcvi "Wefl," said another, "Whoso will, let try, "My Clay with long Oblivion is gone dry: "But, fill me with the old familiar Juice, "Methinks I might recover by-and-bye.*" xcvn So while the Vessels one by one were speaking.

One spied the little Crescent all were seeking: And then they jogg'^d each other, "Brother! "Now for the Porter's shoulder-knot A^Mw^Vincti^ [ITS] SECOND EDITION xcvm Ah, with the Grape my fading life provide^ And wash the Body whence the Life has died, And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf, By some not unfrequented Graiden-side. xcix Whither resorting from the vernal Heat Shall Old Acquaintance Old Acquaintance greet.

Under the Branch that leans above the Wall To shed his Blossom over head and feet. [m] ^ SECOND EDITION Then ev^n my buried Ashes such a snare Of Vintage shall fling up into the Air, As not a True-believer passing by But shall be overtaken unaware.

CI Indeed the Idols I have loved so long Have done my credit in Men^s eye much wrong: Have drowned my Gloiy in a shallow Cup, And sold my Reputation for a Song. cu Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before I swore — but was I sober when I swore?

And then and then came Springs and Rose-in* hand My thread-bare Penitence apieoes tore. [ 177 J .„.^ ■« A.-'- M^M SECOND EDITION cm And much as Wine has playM the Infidel, And robbed me of my Robe of Honour — Well, I often wonder what the Vintners buy One half so precious as the ware they seU.

CIV Yet Ah, that Spring should vanish with the Rose! That Youth^s sweet-scented manuscript should close! The Nightingale that in the branches sang, Ah whence, and whither flown again, who knows! cv Would but the Desert of the Fountain yield One glimpse — if dimly, yet indeed, reveal^.