Most sweet and pleasing are thy ways, O God

Most sweet and pleasing are thy ways, O God,
Like meadows decked with crystal streams and flowers:
Thy paths no foot profane hath ever trod,
Nor hath the proud man rested in Thy bowers:
There lives no vulture, no devouring bear,
But only doves and lambs are harboured there.

The wolf his young ones to their prey doth guide;
The fox his cubs with false deceit endues;
The lion's whelp sucks from his dam his pride;
In hers the serpent malice doth infuse:
The darksome desert all such beasts contains,
Not one of them in Paradise remains.