He ate the unwholesome husk the swine did eat,
He fain would fill his hunger with the mast
Of oak and beech, or rugged root upcast;
And none would help: his misery was complete.
And in the dust of penitence and pain
He gained humility and lost his pride,
Like Naaman when he dipped in Jordan's tide,
And found the harmonious path of peace again.
I will arise and go unto my sire
And say, said he, My sin in sight of heaven
And before thee can never be forgiven:
But let me be thy servant ta'en for hire.
