Classic Poem

Is it his mercy or his judgment rod? O.
Repentance is an unsought gift of God. G.
Is it affliction, in his righteousness,
Wrought upon man by God, for pardon? O.
Yes. G.
Vain my salvation, vain the holocaust;
If I repent not truly, I am lost. G.
If I repent, eternal life is sure;
The promises of God always endure G.
If in repentance I should fail a whit,
It were as if I had not tempted it. O.
Repentance is the the gift of God, to lift
To living faith; it is a perfect gift. G.
God only is perfection. It is I
Who must repent; or failing, I who die. O.
Himself hath known repentance; when he trod
Our dark paths, sad, to make a way to God G.
So, in his Passion, to make mercy whole,
The iron entereth into his soul. O.
Hath he not borne our griefs, and with them this? G.
If we accept it not, we do amiss. O.
One way, repentance, leads to life, he saith
Who lieth not. G.
All others lead to death. O.
It is a grace; and faith and life are kin G.
He saith not it shall always follow sin. O.
Then God have mercy on us, feeble men;
And bring us to himself. G.
Amen. O.
Amen.