I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou, Command a table in this wilderness, And call swift flights of Angels ministrant, Arrayed in glory, on my cup to attend:
Why shouldst thou, then, obtrude this diligence In vain, where no acceptance it can find?
And with my hunger what hast thou to do?
Thy pompous delicacies I contemn, And count thy specious gifts no gifts, but guiles."
To whom thus answered Satan, male-content:--
"That I have also power to give thou seest;
If of that power I bring thee voluntary What I might have bestowed on whom I pleased, And rather opportunely in this place Chose to impart to thy apparent need, Why shouldst thou not accept it? But I see What I can do or offer is suspect.
Of these things others quickly will dispose, Whose pains have earned the far-fet spoil." With that Both table and provision vanished quite, With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard;
Only the importune Tempter still remained, And with these words his temptation pursued:--
"By hunger, that each other creature tames, Thou art not to be harmed, therefore not moved;
Thy temperance, invincible besides, For no allurement yields to appetite;
And all thy heart is set on high designs, High actions. But wherewith to be achieved?
Great acts require great means of enterprise;
Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth, A carpenter thy father known, thyself Bred up in poverty and straits at home, Lost in a desert here and hunger-bit.
Which way, or from what hope, dost thou aspire To greatness? whence authority deriv'st?
What followers, what retinue canst thou gain, Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude, Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost?
Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms.
What raised Antipater the Edomite, And his son Herod placed on Juda's throne, Thy throne, but gold, that got him puissant friends?
Therefore, if at great things thou wouldst arrive, Get riches first, get wealth, and treasure heap--
Not difficult, if thou hearken to me.
Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand;
They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want."
To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:--
"Yet wealth without these three is impotent To gain dominion, or to keep it gained--
Witness those ancient empires of the earth, In highth of all their flowing wealth dissolved;
But men endued with these have oft attained, In lowest poverty, to highest deeds--
Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad Whose offspring on the throne of Juda sate So many ages, and shall yet regain That seat, and reign in Israel without end.
Among the Heathen (for throughout the world To me is not unknown what hath been done Worthy of memorial) canst thou not remember Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?
For I esteem those names of men so poor, Who could do mighty things, and could contemn Riches, though offered from the hand of kings.
And what in me seems wanting but that I May also in this poverty as soon Accomplish what they did, perhaps and more?
Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools, The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare; more apt To slacken virtue and abate her edge Than prompt her to do aught may merit praise.
What if with like aversion I reject Riches and realms! Yet not for that a crown, Golden in shew, is but a wreath of thorns, Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights, To him who wears the regal diadem, When on his shoulders each man's burden lies;
For therein stands the office of a king, His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise, That for the public all this weight he bears.
Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king--
Which every wise and virtuous man attains;
And who attains not, ill aspires to rule Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes, Subject himself to anarchy within, Or lawless passions in him, which he serves.
But to guide nations in the way of truth By saving doctrine, and from error lead To know, and, knowing, worship God aright, Is yet more kingly. This attracts the soul, Governs the inner man, the nobler part;
That other o'er the body only reigns, And oft by force--which to a generous mind So reigning can be no sincere delight.
Besides, to give a kingdom hath been thought Greater and nobler done, and to lay down Far more magnanimous, than to assume.
Riches are needless, then, both for themselves, And for thy reason why they should be sought--
To gain a sceptre, oftest better missed."
