XXXVI.

_AGAINST HYPOCRITES._

_Gli affetti di Pluton._

Deep in their hearts they hide the lusts of Hell: Christ's name is written on their brow, that those Who only view the husk, may not suppose What guile and malice harbour in the shell. O God! O Wisdom! Holy Fervour! Well Of strength invincible to strike Thy foes! Give me the force--my spirit burns and glows-- To strip those idols and to break their spell! The zeal I bear unto Thy name benign, The love I feel for truth sincere and pure, When such men triumph, make me rend my hair. How long shall folk this infamy endure-- That _he_ should be held sacred, _he_ divine, Who strips e'en corpses in the graveyard bare?