The demon-haunted man, when Christ passed by,
Cried with a piteous voice, "What can there be
Of kinship, Son of God, for me and thee,—
I the most low, and thou from the Most High?"
Then by his lips the legion lusts made cry,
"Before the time art come to torment me?"
Then Jesus spake; and, from delusions free,
In his right mind the man, redeemed, drew nigh.
To-day's outcries proclaim the demon fears
Lest Truth's flame touch the unfinished warp of lies
Where malice hastes to weave in ill surmise:
"Leave us alone! our malice-work of years
If touched by Truth would pass to smoke wind-blown,
And nothing leave for hate to call its own."
