Ode: Vengeance will Sit above our Faults

1.VENGEANCE will sit above our faults; but till

She there do sit,

We see her not, nor them. Thus, blind, yet still

We lead her way; and thus, whilst we do ill,

We suffer it.

2.Unhappy he whom youth makes not beware

Of doing ill.

Enough we labour under age, and care;

In number, th’ errors of the last place are

The greatest still.

3.Yet we, that should the ill we now begin

As soon repent,

Strange thing! perceive not; our faults are not seen,

But past us; neither felt, but only in

The punishment.

4.But we know ourselves least; mere outward shows

Our minds so store,

That our souls no more than our eyes disclose

But form and colour. Only he who knows

Himself, knows more.