The laws of God, the laws of man, br He may keep that will and can; br Not I: let God and man decree br Laws for themselves and not for me; br And if my ways are not as theirs br Let them mind their own affairs. br Their deeds I judge and much condemn, br Yet when did I make laws for them? br Please yourselves, say I, and they br Need only look the other way. br But no, they will not; they must still br Wrest their neighbor to their will, br And make me dance as they desire br With jail and gallows and hell-fire. br And how am I to face the odds br Of man's bedevilment and God's? br I, a stranger and afraid br In a world I never made. br They will be master, right or wrong; br Though both are foolish, both are strong. br And since, my soul, we cannot fly br To Saturn nor to Mercury, br Keep we must, if keep we can, br These foreign laws of God and man.