Classic Poem

PARABLE X

The Lord of the Vineyard and the Labourers.

My kingdom in another view
(Says Christ) has this resemblance too.
A certain man at early day
Agreed with labourers for pay,
Who for a penny each content
Were straightway to his vineyard sent.
At the third hour again he hied,
And idlers in the market spy'd,
To whom he his command injoins,
‘Go ye likewise and dress my vines,
‘And what in reason is your due,
‘That will I pay;’ so they withdrew
At the sixth hour he likewise came,
And at the ninth, and did the same
About th' eleventh he chanc'd to meet
With other loit'rers in the street,
To whom, ‘Why stand ye thus?’ he cry'd;
No man has hir'd us, they reply'd.
‘Ye likewise to the vineyard go,
‘And what is right I will bestow.’—
?His servant therefore at the eve
Made, by command, the men receive
What to each labourer should fall,
Beginning with the last of all
So they, that at th' eleventh were hir'd,
Each man with pence a-piece retir'd:
But when the first were also come,
They thought to have a greater sum,
And they but pence a-piece receiv'd,
At which they murmur'd and were griev'd,
And the good man of fraud arraign'd—
‘Lo! we that all the day sustain'd,
‘And brav'd the sun's meridian pow'r,
‘Fare ev'n as those that wrought an hour.’—
But he the loudest thus address'd,
Friend, thou by no means art oppress'd
Did ye not all agree for pence,
Take that is thine, and get thee hence
This last shall have as much as thou—
What not my property allow,
And shall thine evil heart repine
At God's benevolence in mine?
?The last shall thus the first precede,
For tho' a multitude indeed
Are call'd to hear the common word,
Yet few are chosen, and preferr'd
?According to the Lord's intent
By this same penny here is meant,
The crown of him that wins the race;
The time of day's the time of grace.
Some from their infancy begin
To cleave to Christ, and flee from sin,
As Samuel walk'd to God well known
As soon as he could walk alone.
Some must be strengthen'd ere they thrive
In Christ, and ev'n their prime survive.
Some are religious not before
Their knees are weak, and heads are hoar.
And others on a sick-bed lie,
And there first call on Christ, and die.
God's property is mercy still,
And he can grant it when he will.
He knows man's talent, and his pow'r.
Some lab'rers earn more in an hour
Than others in a tedious space,
And frustrate love and thwarted grace
Thro' Christ the final doom may stave,
And rise fructif'rous from the grave