SONNETS
UPON THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH
II
SONNETS
UPON THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH
TENDERLY do we feel by Nature’s law For worst offenders: though the heart will heave With indignation, deeply moved we grieve, In after thought, for Him who stood in awe Neither of God nor man, and only saw, Lost wretch, a horrible device enthroned On proud temptations, till the victim groaned Under the steel his hand had dared to draw. But oh, restrain compassion, if its course, As oft befalls, prevent or turn aside 10 Judgments and aims and acts whose higher source Is sympathy with the unforewarned, who died Blameless–with them that shuddered o’er his grave, And all who from the law firm safety crave.