Hew Morrison Collection > Spiritual vision

23
Played by the vulgar deiuagogue for gain ;
That kindling eye of thine is fit to rule,
If thou wouldst take the wotM for what it is —
A den of thieves, a nursery of vice !
Elijah.
Methinks this Voice ere now assailed mine ears,
And mad© acquaintance with my solitude.
In which I recognise a purpose high,
And bear affliction as for some good end.
Command my power to compass thy design.
And thou shalt wear the purple and the crown.
Elijah.
Think not that I am ignorant of sin —
Or of the wiles that lead the world astray.
Satan.
Of sin ? The high and mighty know it not :
It is the child of weakness and despair.
And only thrives in misery and want !
The happy know it not ; for happiness
Is power supreme to act, and freely live !
Were it not better to be spirit free,
In virtue of unbounded sovereignty,
Tha.n live thus mewed in weakness and in want,
Despised, rejected, hunted unto death ?
Elijah.
In that much vaunted freedom from restraint —
The baneful lure of all unstable spirits — •
There lies the lowest servitude,
Which holds thee bound to a variety