Shapes of Clay

The Seraphs came to Christ, and said: "Behold!

The man, presumptuous and overbold,

Who boasted that his mercy could excel

Thine own, is dead and on his way to Hell."

Gravely the Saviour asked: "What did he do

To make his impious assertion true?"

"He was a Governor, releasing all

The vilest felons ever held in thrall.

No other mortal, since the dawn of time,

Has ever pardoned such a mass of crime!"

Christ smiled benignly on the Seraphim:

"Yet I am victor, for I pardon him."