I cannot trust your counsel, friend,
It surely hides some wicked end."
Said Satan, "Near the throne of God,
In ages past, we devils trod;
Angels of light, to us 't was given
To guide each wandering foot to heaven.
Not wholly lost is that first love.
Nor those pure tastes we knew above.
Roaming across a continent.
The Tartar moves his shifting tent,
But never quite forgets the day
When in his father's arms he lay;
So we, once bathed in love divine.
Recall the taste of that rich wine.
God's finger rested on my brow,—
That magic touch, I feel it now!
I fell, 't is true—O, ask not why.
For still to God I turn my eye.
It was a chance by which I fell,
Another takes me back from hell.
'T was but my envy of mankind,
The envy of a loving mind.
Jealous of men, I could not bear
God's love with this new race to share.
But yet God's tables open stand,
His guests flock in from every land;
Some kind act towards the race of men
May toss us into heaven again.
A game of chess is all we see,—
And God the player, pieces we.