 | Poems by John Godfrey Saxe. Complete in one volume : thirty-fifth edition |  |
The public right to guard the common weal
From thief and ruffian, naught but maniac zeal
Will e'er deny, while every worthy cause
Rests in the proper sanction of the laws.
But when will men the Christian lesson learn,
That 't is not theirs to throttle or to burn
Their brother sinner to his mortal hurt,
Only because they deem it his desert?
If no stern need, with loud imperious call,
Demand the forfeit, be it great or small,
Let not your heart usurp the sacred throne
Of Him who said that vengeance was his own!
In meek submission drop the uplifted rod,
And leave the sinner to the sinner's God
From thief and ruffian, naught but maniac zeal
Will e'er deny, while every worthy cause
Rests in the proper sanction of the laws.
But when will men the Christian lesson learn,
That 't is not theirs to throttle or to burn
Their brother sinner to his mortal hurt,
Only because they deem it his desert?
111
Demand the forfeit, be it great or small,
Let not your heart usurp the sacred throne
Of Him who said that vengeance was his own!
In meek submission drop the uplifted rod,
And leave the sinner to the sinner's God
| Poems by John Godfrey Saxe. Complete in one volume : thirty-fifth edition | |