All shafts of malice—able to sustain
Not his own heart alone, but aye to speak
Strength to the fainting, courage to the weak.
XLV.
Yet if they cursed their foes, or wished them dead,
With gentle words, but firm, he would put down
Such evil thoughts:—“Shall we be angerèd
With them that help us to a martyr’s crown?
Shall we not rather our tormentors own
As scourges with which God doth scourge our sin,