Poems (Jordan)/Sinful Pleasures

SINFUL PLEASURES
The pleasures of this earth
Can bring no lasting bliss;
They furnish present mirth
And, with it, effervesce.

Though the first taste of sin
Be to the taster, sweet,
There hes the dregs within,
The bitterest regret.

A snare covered with flow'rs
Sin places in our path,
To trap these feet of ours
And hurl us down to death!

I hold this as a word
Of God, in warning sent;—
Each sin doth sheathe the sword
For its own punishment.

The pleasures God doth give,
Enjoyed, bring no remorse;
They Earth and Death survive
And last long as their Source!