And threat—by punishment succeeded not,
Marred in the morn the promise of the day,
The Christian child’s first lesson should be to obey.
Cruel, misjudging tenderness! how soon
The plant by weakness nursed bore fruit in woe!
The branch which love with gentle hand might prune,
Reserved to fall ’neath God’s chastising blow!
Can they the toils of warfare undergo
Whose childhood knows no wish ungratified?
Oh! check the first advances of the foe,