SIN NO MORE.
Reading edition
———
BY R. T. CONRAD.
———
“Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee.”
Art thou young, yet hast not given
Dewy bud and bloom to Heaven?
Tarryest till life’s morn be o’er!
Pause, or ere the bolt be driven!
Sin no more!
Art thou aged? Seek’st thou power?
Rank or gold—of dust the dower!
Fame to wreathe thy wrinkles hoar?
Dotard! death hangs o’er thy hour!
Sin no more!
Art thou blest? False joys caress thee:
And the world’s embraces press thee
To its hot heart’s cankered core:
Waken! Heaven alone can bless thee.
Sin no more!
Art thou wretched? Hath each morrow
Sown its sin to reap its sorrow!
Turn to Heaven—repent—adore:
Hope new light from Faith can borrow;
Sin no more!
May a meek and rapt devotion
Fill thy heart, as waves the ocean,
Glassing Heaven from shore to shore!
Then wilt thou—calmed each emotion—
Sin no more.