When weakness now do strive wi' might

In struggles ov' an e'thly [214] trial,

Might mid overcome the right,

An' truth be turn'd by might's denial;

Withstanders we ha' mwost [215] to fear,

If selfishness do wring us here,

Be souls a-holdèn in their hand

The might an' riches o' the land.

But when the wicked, now so strong,

Shall stan' vor judgment, peäle as ashes,

By the souls that rued their wrong,

Wi' tears a-hangèn on their lashes --

Then withstanders they shall deäre [216]

The leäst ov' all to meet wi' there,

Mid be the helpless souls that now

Below their wrongvul might mid bow.

Sweet childern o' the dead, bereft

Ov all their goods by guile an' forgèn [217] ;

Souls o' driven sleäves that left

Their weäry limbs a-mark'd by scourgèn;

They that GOD ha' call'd to die

Vor a truth ageän the worold's lie,

An' they that groan'd an' cried in vaïn,

A-bound by foes' unrighteous chaïn.

The maïd that selfish craft led on

To sin, an' left wi' hope a-blighted;

Starvèn workmen, thin an' wan,

Wi' hopeless leäbour ill requited;

Souls a-wrong'd, an' call'd to vill

Wi' dread, the men that used em ill, --

When might shall yield to right as pliant

As a dwarf avore a giant.

When there, at last, the good shall glow

In starbright bodies lik' their Seäviour,

Vor all their flesh noo mwore mid show,

The marks o' man's unkind beheäviour:

Wi' speechless tongue, an' burnèn cheäk,

The strong shall bow avore the weäk,

An' vind that helplessness, wi' right,

Is strong beyond all e'thly might.

---

Footnotes:

[214] e'thly, earthly

[215] ha mwost, have most

[216] deäre, dare

[217] forgen, forgery