ON THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL by JOHN BYROM

IN Paul's conversion we discern the case
Of human talents, wanting heav'nly grace:
What persecutions, till he saw the light,
Against the Christian church did he excite!
By his own reason led into mistake,
Amongst the flock what havock did he make!
Within himself when, verily, he thought,
That all the while he did but what he ought.

His use of reason cannot be denied,
Nor legal zeal, nor moral life beside;
Blameless as any Jew or Greek could claim,
Who shew'd aversion to the Christian name.
His fund of learning some are pleas'd to add;
And yet, with all th' endowments which he had,
From place to place, with eager steps, he trod,
To persecute the real church of God.

When to Damascus, for the like intent,
With the High Priest's authority he went;
Struck to the ground, by a diviner ray,
The @3reas'ning, legal, moral@1 zealot lay;
To the plain question put by JESUS—@3Why
Persecute me?@1—had only to reply,
@3What shall I do?@1—His reason and his wrath
Were both convinc'd, and he embrac'd the faith.

His @3outward@1 lost, his @3inward@1 sight renew'd,
Truth in its native evidence he view'd;
With three days' fast he nourish'd his concern,
And, a new conduct well prepar'd to learn,
Good Ananias, whom he came to bind,
Was sent to cure and to baptize the blind:
A destin'd martyr to his Jewish zeal
Of @3Christian@1 faith confers the sacred seal.

Of nobler use his reason, while it stood
Without a @3conference with flesh and blood@1,
Still, and submissive; when, within, begun
The Father's revelation of the Son;
Whom, till the Holy Spirit rise to shew,
No pow'r of thought can ever come to know;
The saving mystery, obscur'd by sin,
Itself must manifest itself, @3within.@1

Thus, taught of God, Paul saw the truth appear
To his enlighten'd understanding clear:
The pow'r of Christ himself, and nothing less,
Could move his persecutor to profess:
He learn'd, and told it from the real ground,
And prov'd, to all the @3christian@1 world around,
That @3true religion had its true foundation,
Not in man's@1 REASON @3but God's@1 REVELATION.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...