Classic Poem

The One Way.

O ne only Way to life:
One Faith, deliver'd once for all;
One holy Band, endow'd with Heaven's high call;
One earnest, endless strife; —
This is the Church th' Eternal framed of old.

Smooth open ways, good store;
A Creed for every clime and age,
By Mammon's touch new moulded o'er and o'er;
No cross, no war to wage;
This is the Church our earth-dimm'd eyes behold.

But ways must have an end,
Creeds undergo the trial-flame,
Nor with th' impure the Saints for ever blend,
Heaven's glory with our shame: —
Think on that hour, and choose 'twixt soft and bold.