 | The Poems of John Byrom |  |
PETER'S DENIAL OF HIS MASTER.
I
“Tho' all forsake Thee, Master, yet not I;I'll go to Prison with Thee, or to die,”
Said Peter;—yet how soon did he deny!
II
A striking Proof, that even to good-WillThe Help of Grace is necessary still
To save a Soul from falling into Ill.
III
His Master told him how the Case would be;But Peter could not see himself, not he!
Till Grace withdrew, that he might come to see.
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IV
Peter, so valiant on a selfish Plan,Quite frighted by a Servant-maid, began
To curse and swear, and “did not know the Man!”
V
'Twas thus that “Satan sifted him like Wheat,”And made him think his Courage was so great;
While Jesus pray'd that he might see the Cheat.
VI
High-minded in himself, he fell,—how low,The Cock instructed him, foretold to crow:
His real Self then Peter came to know.
VII
He that “would die with Him, tho' all forsook,”Dissolv'd in Tears, when Jesus gave a Look,
And learn'd Humility by Love's Rebuke.
VIII
Lesson for us is plain from Peter's Case,That real Virtue is the Work of Grace,
And of its Height Humility the Base.
| The Poems of John Byrom | |