I ask no more. But spare my brethren! They Now beg, in vain, to toil; and cannot save Their wan-eyed loved ones, sinking to the grave. Give them their daily bread! How many pray, Alas, in vain, for food! Be Famine fed; And give us, Lord, this day, our daily bread. VII. Et remitte nobis Debita nostra, sicut et nos remittimus Debitoribus nostris. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. LUKE vi. 37. FORGIVE OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO AGAINST US TRESPASS! Though we take Life, blessings, promised heavens, from Thee, we make Life a long war 'gainst Him in whom we live! Pure once; now like the Cities of the Plain, A bitter sea of death and darkness rolls Its heavy waves above our buried souls. Yet wilt Thou raise us to the light again, Worms as we are, if we forgive the worm That grovels in our way. How light the cost, And yet how hard the task! For we are lost In sin. Do Thou my soul uphold and form! Bankrupt and lost to all but hope and Thee; Teach me to pardon; and, oh, pardon me! VIII. Et ne nos inducas in Tentationem. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation. REV. iii. 10. LEAD US NOT IN TEMPTATION! The earth's best Find but in flight their safety; and the wise Shun, with considerate steps, its basilisk eyes. Save us from Pleasure with the heaving breast And unbound zone; from Flattery's honey'd tongue; Avarice, with golden palm and icy heart; Ambition's marble smile and earthy art; The rosy cup where aspic death is hung! |