[Uncertain] [c. Sept. 1680] If Rome can pardon sins, as Romans hold, And if those pardons can be bought and sold, It were no sin t' adore and worship gold. If they can purchase pardons with a sum For sins they may commit in time to come, And for sins past, 'tis very well for Rome. At this rate they are happiest that have most: They'll purchase heaven at their own proper cost. Alas, the poor! All that are so are lost. Whence came this knack, or when did it begin? What author have they, or who brought it in? Did Christ e'er keep a customhouse for sin? Some subtle devil, without more ado, Did certainly this sly invention brew To gull 'em of their souls and money too. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON SONNET: 151 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PETITION OF A SCHOOLBOY TO HIS FATHER by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD 1916 SEEN FROM 1921 by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SONNET ON MOOR PARK - WRITTEN AUGUST 20, 1807 by SAMUEL EGERTON BRYDGES THE EPISODE OF NISUS AND EURYALUS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON SENEX'S SOLILOQUY ON HIS YOUTHFUL IDOL by THOMAS CAMPBELL |