81. Warfare
{141}
"Freely ye have received; freely
give."
"GIVE any boon for peace!
Why should our fair-eyed Mother e'er engage
In the world's course and on a troubled stage,
From which her very call is a release?
No! in
thy garden stand,
And
tend with pious hand
The
flowers thou plantest there,
Which
are thy proper care,
O man of God! in meekness and in love,
And waiting for the blissful realms above."
Alas! for
thou must learn,
Thou guileless one! rough is the holy hand;
Runs not the Word of Truth through every land,
A sword to sever, and a fire to burn? {142}
If
bless鐡 Paul had stay'd
In cot
or learned shade,
With
the priest's white attire,
And the
Saints' tuneful choir,
Men had not gnash'd their teeth, nor risen to slay,
But
thou hadst been a heathen in thy day.
Palermo.
June 3, 1833.