Of Good In Things Evil. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLIMNIOL PQNRSTPUPVIIWXYZA2I B2FC2D2E2F2G2H2OFQI2 J2I2K2OOI2L2I2NM2G2F K2N2ID2I2O2I2I2I2 FP2K2I2Q2R2NI2S2CI2O T2FU2I2 V2W2CI2X2OQ2Y2Z2O2A3 I2I2I2M2D2I2I2B3I2I2 B3B3I2B3I2B3B3I2B3 I2| I Heard the man of sin reproaching the goodness of Jehovah | A |
| Wherefore if he be Almighty Love permitteth he misery and pain | B |
| I saw the child of hope vexed in the labyrinth of doubt | C |
| Wherefore O holy One and just is the horn of thy foul foe so high exalted | D |
| And alas for this our groaning world for that grief and guilt are here | E |
| Alas for that Earth is the battle field where good must combat with evil | F |
| Angels look on and hold their breath burning to mingle in the conflict | G |
| But the troops of the Captain of Salvation may be none but the soldiers of the cross | H |
| And that slender band must fight alone and yet shall triumph gloriously | I |
| Enough shall they be for conquest and the motto of their standard is Enough | J |
| Thou art sad denizen of earth for pains and diseases and death | K |
| But remember thy hand hath earned them grudge not at the wages of thy doings | L |
| Thy guilt and thy fathers' guilt must bring many sorrows in their company | I |
| And if thou wilt drink sweet poison doubtless it shall rot thee to the core | M |
| What art thou but the heritor of evil with a right to nothing good | N |
| The respite of an interval of ease were a boon which Justice might deny thee | I |
| Therefore lay thy hand upon thy mouth O man much to be forgiven | O |
| And wait thou child of hope for time shall teach thee all things | L |
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| Yet hear for my speech shall comfort thee reverently but with boldness | P |
| I would raise the sable curtain that hideth the symmetry of Providence | Q |
| Pain and sin are convicts and toil in then fetters for good | N |
| The weapons of evil are turned against itself fighting under better banners | R |
| The leech delighteth in stinging and the wicked loveth to do harm | S |
| But the wise Physician of the Universe useth that ill tendency for health | T |
| Verily from others' griefs are gendered sympathy and kindness | P |
| Patience humility and faith spring not seldom from thine own | U |
| An enemy humbled by his sorrows cannot be far from thy forgiveness | P |
| A friend who hath tasted of calamity shall fan the dying incense of thy love | V |
| And for thyself is it a small thing so to learn thy frailty | I |
| That from an aching bone thou savest the whole body | I |
| The furnace of affliction may he fierce but if it refineth thy soul | W |
| The good of one meek thought shall outweigh years of torment | X |
| Nevertheless wretched man if thy had heart he hardened in the flame | Y |
| Being earth born as of clay and not of moulded wax | Z |
| Judge not the hand that smiteth as if thou wert visited in wrath | A2 |
| Reproach thyself for He is Justice repent thee for He is Mercy | I |
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| Cease fond caviller at wisdom to be satisfied that everything is wrong | B2 |
| Be sure there is good necessity even for the flourishing of evil | F |
| Would the eye delight in perpetual noon or the ear in unqualified harmonics | C2 |
| Hath winter's frost no welcome contrasting sturdily with summer | D2 |
| Couldst thou discern benevolence if there were no sorrows to be soothed | E2 |
| Or discover the resources of contrivance if nothing stood opposed to the means | F2 |
| What were power without an enemy or mercy without an object | G2 |
| Or truth where the false were impossible or love where love were a debt | H2 |
| The characters of God were but idle if all things around him were perfection | O |
| And virtues might slumber on like death if they lacked the opportunities of evil | F |
| There is one all perfect and but one man dare not reason of His essence | Q |
| But there must be deficiencies in heaven to leave room for progression in bliss | I2 |
| A realm of unqualified best were a stagnant pool of being | J2 |
| And the circle of absolute perfection the abstract cipher of indolence | I2 |
| Sin is an awful shadow but it addeth new glories to the light | K2 |
| Sin is a black foil but it setteth off the jewelry of heaven | O |
| Sin is the traitor that hath dragged the majesty of mercy into action | O |
| Sin is the whelming argument to justify the attribute of vengeance | I2 |
| It is a deep dark thought and needeth to be diligently studied | L2 |
| But perchance evil was essential that God should be seen of his creatures | I2 |
| For where perfection is not there lacketh possible good | N |
| And the absence of better that might be taketh from the praise of it is well | M2 |
| And creatures must be finite and finite cannot be perfect | G2 |
| Therefore though in small degree creation involveth evil | F |
| He chargeth his angels with folly and the heavens are not clean in His sight | K2 |
| For every existence in the universe hath either imperfection or Godhead | N2 |
| And the light that blazeth but in One must be softened with shadow for the many | I |
| There is then good in evil or none could have known his Maker | D2 |
| No spiritual intellect or essence could have gazed on his high perfections | I2 |
| No angel harps could have tuned the wonders of his wisdom | O2 |
| No ransomed souls have praised the glories of his mercy | I2 |
| No howling fiends have shown the terrors of his justice | I2 |
| But God would have dwelt alone in the fearful solitude of holiness | I2 |
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| Nevertheless O sinner harden not thine heart in evil | F |
| Nor plume thee in imaginary triumph because thou art not valueless as vile | P2 |
| Because thy dark abominations add lustre to the clarity of Light | K2 |
| Because a wonder working alchemy draineth elixir out of poisons | I2 |
| Because the same fiery volcano that scorcheth and ravageth a continent | Q2 |
| Hath in the broad blue bay cast up some petty island | R2 |
| Because to the full demonstration of the qualities and accidents of good | N |
| The swarthy legions of the Devil have toiled as unwitting pioneers | I2 |
| For sin is still sin so hateful Love doth hate it | S2 |
| A blot on the glory of creation which justice must wipe out | C |
| Sin is a loathsome leprosy fretting the white robe of innocence | I2 |
| A rottenness eating out the heart of the royal cedars of Lebanon | O |
| A pestilential blast the terror of that holy pilgrimage | T2 |
| A rent in the sacred veil whereby God left his temple | F |
| Therefore consider thyself thou that dost not sorrow for thy guilt | U2 |
| Fear evil or face its enemy dread sin or dare justice | I2 |
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| Yea saith the Spirit and their works do follow them | V2 |
| Habits and thoughts and deeds are shadows and satellites of self | W2 |
| What shall the claimant to a throne stand forward with a rabble rout | C |
| Meanness impiety and lust riot and indolence and vanity | I2 |
| Nay man the train wherewith thou comest attend whither thou shalt go | X2 |
| A throne for a king's son but an inner dungeon for the felon | O |
| For a man's works do follow him bodily standing in the judgment | Q2 |
| Behold the false accuser behold the slandered saint | Y2 |
| The slave and his bloody driver the poor and his generous friend | Z2 |
| The simple dupe and the crafty knave the murderer and his victim | O2 |
| Yet all are in many characters the best stand guilty at the bar | A3 |
| And he that seemed the worst may have most of real excuse | I2 |
| The talents unto which a man is born be they few or many | I2 |
| Are dropped into the balance of account working un looked for changes | I2 |
| And perchance the convict from the galleys may stand above the hermit from his cell | M2 |
| For that the obstacles in one outweigh the propensions in the other | D2 |
| There be who have made themselves friends yea by unrighteous mammon | I2 |
| Friends ready waiting as an escort to those everlasting habitations | I2 |
| Embodied in living witnesses thronging to meet them in a cloud | B3 |
| Charity meekness and truth zeal sincerity and patience | I2 |
| There be who have made themselves foes yea by honest gain | I2 |
| Foes whose plaint must have its answer before the bright portal is unbarred | B3 |
| Pride and selfishness and sloth apathy wrath and falsehood | B3 |
| Bind to their everlasting toil many that must weary in the fires | I2 |
| Love hath a power and a longing to save the gathered world | B3 |
| And rescue universal man from the hunting hell hounds of his doings | I2 |
| Yet few here one and there one scanty as the gleaning after harvest | B3 |
| Are glad of the robes of praise which Mercy would fling around the naked | B3 |
| But wrapping closer to their skin the poisoned tunic of their works | I2 |
| They stand in self dependence to perish in abandonment of God | B3 |
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| From the th edition of Proverbial Philosophy by Martin Farquhar Tupper Transcribed by Mick Puttock August Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition | I2 |
Martin Farquhar Tupper
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About Of Good In Things Evil. From Proverbial Philosophy
Of Good In Things Evil. From Proverbial Philosophy is a poem by Martin Farquhar Tupper. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.