Oh! weak to suffer, savage to inflict,
Is man’s commingling nature; hear him now
Some transient trial of his life depict,
Hear him in holy rites a suppliant bow;
See him shrink back from sickness and from pain,
And in his sorrow to his God complain—
‘Remit my trespass, spare my sin,’ he cries,
‘All-merciful, All-mighty, and All-wise:
Quench this affliction’s bitter whelming tide,
Draw out thy barbed arrow from my side;’—