Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 2.djvu/44

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The tear of Pity, or the throb of Love.Touch'd but by this, the massy gates give way,The buttress trembles, and the guarded wall,Guarded in vain, submits. Him heathens erstHad deified, and bowed the suppliant kneeTo Plutus. Nor are now his votaries few,Tho' he the Blessed Teacher of mankindHath said, that easier thro' the needle's eyeShall the huge ^[1]camel pass, than the rich manEnter the gates of heaven. "Ye cannot serveYour God, and worship Mammon.""Missioned Maid!"So spake the Angel, "know that these, whose hands

↑ In the former edition I had substituted cable instead of camel. The alteration would not be worth noticing were it not for the circumstance which occasioned it. Facilius elephas per foramen acus, is among the Hebrew adages collected by Drusius; the same metaphor is found in two other Jewish proverbs, and this appears to determine the signification of καμηλος. Matt. 19. 24.

[1] In the former edition I had substituted cable instead of camel. The alteration would not be worth noticing were it not for the circumstance which occasioned it. Facilius elephas per foramen acus, is among the Hebrew adages collected by Drusius; the same metaphor is found in two other Jewish proverbs, and this appears to determine the signification of καμηλος. Matt. 19. 24.

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