For a Revised Version + 

Oh, deem it not presumption, Lord, + 

In me to revise Thy holy Word⁠— + 

No jot or tittle I’d efface, + 

No menace dire, nor pledge of grace. + 

No poetry I’d blot (although it’s + 

Well known to Thee that I hate poets), + 

But humbly, reverently try + 

Some missing mandates to supply. + 

For lo! I fall of dunces ill, + 

Who’ve got by heart Thy written will; + 

I turn, behold! in tears away + 

From rogues Thy bidding who obey. + 

Wherever “Thou shalt not” occurs + 

I’d add “Thou shalt the exact reverse,” + 

And many a virtue, too, compel + 

(By plain command and threat of hell) + 

Which has no corresponding vice + 

To interdict in terms precise. + 

Thus I’d exterminate the brood + 

Of rascals negatively good⁠— + 

Men Bible-clear, who ought to smart + 

Beneath the lash at tail of cart. + 

Each soul (masks, too, would then be thinner) + 

If not a saint, should be a sinner. + 

In error, Lord, if I am found, + 

Observe how clouds my vision bound: + 

Forgive my narrowness of sight, + 

And bless me with the larger light + 

In Thine imperfect law to trace + 

The perfect purpose of Thy grace. + 