And what if thou be walking now uprightly? Salve not thy wounds with poison,
As if a petty goodness of to-day hath blotted out the sin of yesterday:
It is well, thou hast life and light; and the Hewer showeth mercy,
Dressing the root, pruning the branch, and looking for thy tardy fruits;
But, even here as thou standest, cheerful belike and careless,
The stains of ancient evil are upon thee, the record of thy wrong is in thee:
For, a curse of many yesterdays is thine, many yesterdays of sin,
That, haply heeded little now, shall blast thy many morrows.
Shall then a man reck nothing, but hurl mad defiance at his Judge,
Knowing that less than an Omnipotent cannot make the has been, not been?