Till thy baptismal day, thou, unperplexed
By foreign dogma, didst our prayers repeat,
Honor the Grod of Israel, fast and feast,
Even as thy people's wont, from first to least.
xiv.
Yes, Doubt I likewise must discard. Not sleek.
Full-faced, erect of head, men walk, when doubt
Writhes at their entrails ; pinched and lean of cheek,
With brow pain-branded, thou hadst strayed about
As midst live men a ghost condemned to seek
That soul he may nor live nor die without.
No doubts the font washed from thee, thou didst glide
From creed to creed, complete, sane-souled, clear-eyed.
xv.
Thy pardon. Master, if I dare sustain
The thesis thou couldst entertain a fear.
I would but rout thine enemies, who feign
Ignoble impulse prompted thy career.
I will but weigh the chances and make plain
To Envy's self the monstrous jest appear.
Though time, place, circumstance confirmed in seeming.
One word from thee should frustrate all their scheming.
