Classic Poem

PARABLE XLI.

The Strait Gate.

To hardship and to many a strait
Inur'd, affect the narrow gate.
For wide the door, and broad the way,
That leads to horror and dismay:
But fond of ease, and chusing wrong,
There multitudes together throng
For strait's the gate, and hard the road
That leads to life's sublime abode,
And few there be of all mankind
That can th'obstructed passage find.
?The Champion's evangelic life
Is contest and predestin'd strife,
We're christen'd soldiers of the Lord,
And must by hardship claim reward
Up hill by land our steps we guide,
By sea we row 'gainst wind and tide:
Below we lose above to win,
And scorn all peace that's link'd to sin.
Thro' straits and thorns the Lord obey,
And leave the worldlings to their way.