Why then so great, O Sovereign Lord,

Came evil from thy forming hand,

That Reason, yea, and Virtue stand

Aghast before the sight abhorred?

And how can deeds so hideous glare

Beneath the beams of holy light,

That on the lips of hapless wight

Dies at their view the trembling prayer?

Why do the many parts agree

So scantly in thy work sublime?