Sir John Bowring (1792-1872). Hymns and Poems. VIII. Confidence. Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

Hymns and Poems.
VIII. Confidence

By Sir John Bowring (1792–1872)


IS it not strange that men who loudest boast
Of the unshaken basis of their faith,
Are those who tremble most and threaten most,
If any thought or word of doubt gainsayeth
Their bold asseverations? They are lost	5
In their perplexities, if e’er the torch
Of light intrude into their dark recess;
They fly like midnight spectres from the porch
Of Truth’s resplendent temples, where the sun
Shines with mist-scattering majesty upon	10
Their fears, their follies, and their feebleness.
Sad contrast to that greatly gifted one
Whose counsel was, “Prove all things and hold fast
By what is good!—for what is good will last.”