LXXII.
“That our deserts unfitting are to place
“I’ the scale against our mighty debt, I know;
“Nor pardon can we hope, if we retrace
“Our sinful lives: but if thou shouldst bestow
“In aid, the gift of thy redeeming grace,
“The account is quit and balanced, that we owe;
“Nor can we of thy succour, Lord, despair,
“While we in mind thy saving mercy bear.”
LXXIII.
So spake the holy emperor aloud,
In humbleness of heart and deep contrition;
And added other prayers withal, and vowed
What fitted his great needs and high condition.
Nor was his supplication disallowed;
For his good genius hears the king’s petition,
Best of the seraphs he; who spreads his wings,
And to the Saviour’s feet this offering brings.
LXXIV.
Infinite other prayers as well preferred,
Were, by like couriers, to the Godhead’s ear
So borne; which when the blessed spirits heard,
They all together gazed, with pitying cheer,
On their eternal, loving Lord, and, stirred
With one desire, besought that he would hear
The just petition, to his ears conveyed,
Of this his Christian people, seeking aid.
