We thought we ranked above the chance of ill. <br /> Others might fall, not we, for we were wise-- <br />Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-will <br /> We let our servants drug our strength with lies. <br />The pleasure and the poison had its way <br /> On us as on the meanest, till we learned <br />That he who lies will steal, who steals will slay. <br /> Neither God's judgment nor man's heart was turned. <br /> <br />Yet there remains His Mercy--to be sought <br /> Through wrath and peril till we cleanse the wrong <br />By that last right which our forefathers claimed <br /> When their Law failed them and its stewards were bought. <br />This is our cause. God help us, and make strong <br /> Our will to meet Him later, unashamed!<br /><br />Rudyard Kipling<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-covenant-2/
