If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
On horror's head read more

If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
On horror's head horrors accumulate;
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed;
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that.

Why was I born with such contemporaries?

Why was I born with such contemporaries?

Despair ruins some, presumption many

Despair ruins some, presumption many

The name of the Slough was Despond.

The name of the Slough was Despond.

O that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or read more

O that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter.

Darkness our guide, Despair our leader was.

Darkness our guide, Despair our leader was.

The man who lives only by hope will die with despair.

The man who lives only by hope will die with despair.

Despair of ever being saved, "except thou be born again," or of
seeing God "without holiness," or of having read more

Despair of ever being saved, "except thou be born again," or of
seeing God "without holiness," or of having part in Christ except
thou "love him above father, mother, or thy own life." This kind
of despair is one of the first steps to heaven.

Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest spirit
That fought in heaven, now fiercer by despair.

Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest spirit
That fought in heaven, now fiercer by despair.