‘The Devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.’
THE LION, he prowleth far and near, | |
| Nor swerves for pain or rue; | |
| He heedeth nought of sloth nor fear, | |
| He prowleth—prowleth through | |
| The silent glade and the weary street, | 5 |
| In the empty dark and the full noon heat; | |
| And a little Lamb with aching Feet— | |
| He prowleth too. | |
| |
| The Lion croucheth alert, apart— | |
| With patience doth he woo; | 10 |
| He waiteth long by the shuttered heart, | |
| And the Lamb—He waiteth too. | |
| Up the lurid passes of dreams that kill, | |
| Through the twisting maze of the great Untrue, | |
| The Lion followeth the fainting will— | 15 |
| And the Lamb—He followeth too. | |
| |
| From the thickets dim of the hidden way | |
| Where the debts of Hell accrue, | |
| The Lion leapeth upon his prey: | |
| But the Lamb—He leapeth too. | 20 |
| Ah! loose the leash of the sins that damn, | |
| Mark Devil and God as goals, | |
| In the panting love of a famished Lamb, | |
| Gone mad with the need of souls. | |
| |
| The Lion, he strayeth near and far; | 25 |
| What heights hath he left untrod? | |
| He crawleth nigh to the purest star, | |
| On the trail of the saints of God. | |
| And throughout the darkness of things unclean, | |
| In the depths where the sin-ghouls brood, | 30 |
| There prowleth ever with yearning mien— | |
| A Lamb as white as Blood! | |
