On late Repentance

Vain Men, who do presume to live in sin,
Hoping to end as easie as begin;
When Custom and Time such habits do beget,
That easie Nature to our Wills submit,
And force our hardned hearts with them comply,
To glut our Senses till the hour we die;
As if one Moment were enough to gain
That Mercy we for many years disdain;
With all our power thus blindly running on
In high contests, to our confusion.

Thus heedlesly our Youth does bear the sway,
And middle age too willingly obey,
Still thinking as our Bodies do decay,
We may repent: But age will not give way
To quit his feeble appetites, grown bold
By Custom then, does scorn to be controul'd.
And when no active vigour does remain,
Delights to tell and think sins o'er again.
By such sad precedents we learn too late,
And march to Hell in a triumphant state.