The laws of God, the laws of man
The laws of God, the laws of man,He may keep that will and can;Not I: let God and man decreeLaws for themselves and not for me;And if my ways are not as theirsLet them mind their own affairs.Their deeds I judge and much condemn,Yet when did I make laws for them?Please yourselves, say I, and theyNeed only look the other way.But no, they will not; they must stillWrest their neighbour to their will,And make me dance as they desireWith jail and gallows and hell-fire.And how am I to face the oddsOf man's bedevilment and God's?I, a stranger and afraidIn a world I never made.They will be master, right or wrong;Though both are foolish, both are strong,And since, my soul, we cannot flyTo Saturn or Mercury,Keep we must, if keep we can,These foreign laws of God and man.
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