XXXVIII + 

Absolution + 

O Father, list a sinner’s call! + 

Fain would I hide from man my fall⁠— + 

But I must speak, or faint⁠— + 

I cannot wear guilt’s silent thrall: + 

Cleanse me, kind Saint! + 

“Sinner ne’er blunted yet sin’s goad; + 

Speed thee, my son, a safer road, + 

And sue His pardoning smile + 

Who walk’d woe’s depths, bearing man’s load + 

Of guilt the while.” + 

Yet raise a mitigating hand, + 

And minister some potion bland, + 

Some present fever-stay! + 

Lest one for whom His work was plann’d + 

Die from dismay. + 

“Look not to me⁠—no grace is mine; + 

But I can lift the Mercy-sign. + 

This wouldst thou? Let it be! + 

Kneel down, and take the word divine, + 

Absolvo Te.” + 