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Verses on Various Occasions · Chapter

LXXIV: Temptation explained

The speaker prays to the Lord for strength during hidden trials, recalling the three children who walked through the flame.

What happens

The speaker prays to the Lord for strength during hidden trials, recalling the three children who walked through the flame. He asks for the sustaining grace of Mary's smile to fortify his frail nature, and confesses a conflicted fear and secret joy at the nearness of Hell.

Themes in this chapter

  • Sin and Redemption

    The speaker seeks divine help against temptation and fears the soul's crumbling under the Tempter's dart.

  • Suffering and Humility

    The poem acknowledges hidden trials and the frailty of human nature, pleading for grace to endure.

Characters to notice

  • Lord

    Addressed as 'holy Lord' who walked with the three children in the flame.

  • Mary

    Her smile is invoked as a source of renewal and strength.

  • Unknown

    The speaker who prays for help in temptation and confesses inner conflict.

Key passages

  • “O holy Lord, who with the Children Three Didst walk the piercing flame, Help, in those trial-hours, which, save to Thee, I dare not name”

    Lord, who once protected the three youths in the fiery furnace, assist me during secret temptations that I can only confess to You.

    Alludes to the biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.

  • “Nor let these quivering eyes and sickening heart Crumble to dust beneath the Tempter’s dart.”

    Do not allow my weak eyes and faint heart to be destroyed by the devil's attack.

    Expresses fear of spiritual collapse under temptation.

  • “Till I am Thine with my whole soul; and fear, Not feel a secret joy, that Hell is near.”

    Until I belong entirely to You, I both dread and secretly delight in the proximity of damnation.

    Reveals the speaker's ambivalent emotional state in the face of temptation.

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