SONNET_ TO CHARITY

Oh! best belov\'d of heaven, on earth bestow\'d
To raise the pilgrim, sunk with ghastly fears,
To cool his burning wounds, to wipe his tears,
And strew with amaranths his thorny road.
Alas! how long has superstition hurl\'d
Thine altars down, thine attributes revil\'d,
The hearts of men with witchcrafts foul beguil\'d,
And spread his empire o\'er the vassal world?
But truth returns! she spreads resistless day;
And mark, the monster\'s cloud-wrapt fabric falls--
He shrinks--he trembles \'mid his inmost halls,
And all his damn\'d illusions melt away!
The charm dissolv\'d--immortal, fair, and free,
Thy holy fanes shall rise, celestial Charity!