506.
Parable 3.
Of the Labourers. Matt. xxv.
1
A husbandman, at dawn of day,
Men, thus address'd, who idling stray;
“Go, seek my vineyard, and, at eve,
“Each one, a penny shall receive.”
2
At noon, while sultry suns oppress,
Others he hired, his vines to dress,
And, at the setting of the sun,
He gave the same to every one.
3
The first men hired, thus, murmuring, cry,
“Justice hath sought her native sky:
“We all have borne, without dismay,
“The heat, and burden of the day.”
4
Meekly, the husbandman replied,
“Why thus my generous purpose chide?
“That which I promis'd, I fulfil!
“I exercise a sovereign will!”
5
Let none indulge the angry thought
Who, in the vineyard, long have wrought,
If others, later hired, should find
The same reward from master kind!
6
Let not the Jew indignant feel,
If the same Balm should Gentiles heal!
Nor let the longest labourer sigh,
When men, at eve, for mercy cry!
7
Though small the joy, the danger great,
Th' eleventh hour is not too late!
Come, at the last, though hard the strife,
For hope expires not, but with life!
