Love built a stately house, where Fortune came, <br />And spinning fancies, she was heard to say <br />That her fine cobwebs did support the frame, <br />Whereas they were supported by the same; <br />But Wisdom quickly swept them all away. <br /> <br />The Pleasure came, who, liking not the fashion, <br />Began to make balconies, terraces, <br />Till she had weakened all by alteration; <br />But reverend laws, and many a proclomation <br />Reforméd all at length with menaces. <br /> <br />Then entered Sin, and with that sycamore <br />Whose leaves first sheltered man from drought and dew, <br />Working and winding slily evermore, <br />The inward walls and summers cleft and tore; <br />But Grace shored these, and cut that as it grew. <br /> <br />Then Sin combined with death in a firm band, <br />To raze the building to the very floor; <br />Which they effected,--none could them withstand; <br />But Love and Grace took Glory by the hand, <br />And built a braver palace than before.<br /><br />George Herbert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-world-4/
