But ah! how oft my lawless passions rove,
And break these awful precepts I approve!
Pursue the fatal impulse I abhor,
And violate the virtue I adore!
Oft, when thy better Spirit’s guardian care
Warn’d my fond soul to shun the tempting snare,
My stubborn will his gentle aid repress’d,
And check’d the rising goodness in my breast:
Mad with vain hopes, or urg’d by false desires,
Still’d his soft voice, and quench’d his sacred fires.