Classic Poem

O Dreadful scale of sin!
To wrath see envy swell;
Fix'd wrath is hate, and all within
Malevolent as hell.

A song inflam'd the jealous Saul,
A Demon his dark soul possess'd:
The furious javelin pierc'd the wall,
But meant the envy'd David's breast.

The victim he pursu'd
Mountains and deserts o'er;
Revenging charitable food,
With sacerdotal gore.

Good heav'n! that e'er thy human race
Should these infernal passions breed!
Destroy thy image, and debase
Their glory into Satan's seed!

Ye friendly souls, who burn
With love to human kind,
Whose feelings, with abhorrence, turn
From the malignant mind;

The yoke of Jesus why decline?
Why cast his law of love away?
O come, nature's weak aid resign,
And bow beneath his gentle sway.