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103
FORGIVENESS
As gluttonous fish betrayed by angler's lure
Leap on their doom to find, and find too late,
What fools to essay they were the tempting bait
That hid death in it; so there doth endure
But the brief space of grasping—be thou sure—
The frenzy of lust, of fame the hot-sought prize,
Yea of each sugared sin its clamorous lies:
And then—the Remorse, that knows not ease nor cure.
Leap on their doom to find, and find too late,
What fools to essay they were the tempting bait
That hid death in it; so there doth endure
But the brief space of grasping—be thou sure—
The frenzy of lust, of fame the hot-sought prize,
Yea of each sugared sin its clamorous lies:
And then—the Remorse, that knows not ease nor cure.
Thus were man ruined, had not a voice from heaven
Deeper than shameless depths of hell revealed
Deeps yet profounder. See the wrecked swineherd rise
And go unto his Father—naught concealed
Now of life's foulness-naught left unforgiven
For joy to regain him in the Father's eyes!
Deeper than shameless depths of hell revealed
Deeps yet profounder. See the wrecked swineherd rise
And go unto his Father—naught concealed
Now of life's foulness-naught left unforgiven
For joy to regain him in the Father's eyes!
September 2nd, 1920.
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