I Hate the Tempter and His Charms

I hate the tempt­er and his charms

I hate his flat­ter­ing breath;

The ser­pent takes a thou­sand forms

To cheat our souls to death.

He feeds our hope with airy dreams

Or kills with slav­ish fear;

And holds us still in wide ex­tremes

Presumption or des­pair.

Now he per­suades

How ea­sy ’tis

To walk the road to Heav’n;

Anon he swells our sins

and cries

They can­not be for­giv’n.

He bids young sin­ners

Yet for­bear

To think of God

or death;

For pray­er and de­vo­tion are

But me­lan­cho­ly breath.

He tells the ag­èd

they must die

And ’tis too late to pray;

In vain for mer­cy now they cry

For they have lost their day.

Thus he sup­ports his cru­el throne

By mis­chief and deceit

And drags the sons of Ad­am down

To dark­ness and the pit.

Almighty God

cut short his pow­er;

Let him in dark­ness dwell;

And that he vex the earth no more

Confine him down to hell.