Classic Poem

If I could sing as you can sing
Then would I prize a burning marl,
One simple and resplendent thing,
Too utterly to pule or parle.
If I could sing as you can sing
I would not snarl.

If I had sinned as you have sinned,
Ere saints could scoff at wings that singe
This much of manhood would I find,
To thank God for the shames that tinge
If I had sinned as you have sinned,
I would not cringe.