ON THE CAUSE, CONSEQUENCE AND
CURE OF SPIRITUAL PRIDE.
I
Suppose an Heater burning in the Fire
To be alive, to will and to desire,
To reason, feel and have upon the whole
What we will call “an understanding Soul,”—
Conscious of pow'rful Heat within its Mould,
And Colour bright above the burnish'd Gold!
II
Suppose that Pride should catch this Heater's Heart,
And from the Fire pursuade it to depart;
To show itself, and make it to be known
That it can raise a Splendour of its own,—
An own rich Colour, an own potent Heat,
Without Dependence on the Fire complete!
III
It leaves, in Prospect of so fine a Show,
The fiery Bosom where it learnt to glow;
Cools by Degrees, till all its golden Hue
Is vanish'd, and its Pow'r of heating too.
Its own, once hidden, Nature domineers,
And the dark, cold, self-iron Lump appears.
IV
Transfer this feign'd, imaginary Pride
To that which really does too oft betide,
When human Souls, endued with Grace Divine,
Become ambitious of themselves to shine,
And, proud of Qualities which Grace bestows,
Forsake Its Bosom for self-shining Shows;
V
And thence conceive the natural Effects
Of Pride in either single Men or Sects,
That for Variety of selfish Strife
Forsake the One, True Cause of all true Life,—
The Heav'nly Spirit-fire of Love, within
Whose Sacred Bosom all their Gifts begin;
VI
From which, if Reason, Learning, Wit, or Parts,
Tempt their Ambition to withdraw their Hearts,
There must ensue, whatever they may mean,
The Disappearance of the glowing Scene,
From the most gifted vanishing of Course,
When dis-united from its Real Source!
VII
As only Fire can possibly restore
The Heater's Force to what it was before;
So That of Love alone consumes the Dross
Of wrathful Nature, and repairs its Loss;
It will again unite with all Desire,
That casts itself into the Holy Fire.
