quote · Legacy record
All faiths beside, or did by arms ascend; Or sense indulged has made mankind their friend: This only doctrine does our lusts oppose; Unfed by nature’s soil in which it grows; Cross to our interests, curbing sense and sin; Oppressed without and undermined within, It thrives through pain, its own tormentors tires; And with a stubborn patience still aspires. To what can reason such effects assign, Transcending nature, but to laws divine, Which in that sacred volume are contained, Sufficient, clear, and for that use ordained?
All faiths beside, or did by arms ascend; Or sense indulged has made mankind their friend: This only doctrine does our lusts oppose; Unfed by nature’s soil in which it grows; Cross to our interests, curbing sense and sin; Oppressed without and undermined within, It thrives through pain, its own tormentors tires; And with a stubborn patience still aspires. To what can reason such effects assign, Transcending nature, but to laws divine, Which in that sacred volume are contained, Sufficient, clear, and for that use ordained?
Approximate author period: c. 1666 AD · renaissance
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- John Dryden
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1666 AD · renaissance
author lifetime midpoint (1631–1701)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 121 · printed citation: Dryden · subject: CHRISTIANITY
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