A Test of Will

A virtuous angel born with a halo
Met a vile demon born with two horns.
They met in a dale, with streams so shallow,
Where an old widower lives and mourns.

One wore a white robe,
The other wore black.
Both despised the other,
Yet they weren’t taken aback.

Candidly, they spoke of people,
Of mortals, and of kings.
They spoke of their deeds,
Of their dealings, of their things.

The demon said unto the angel:

“What man would do holy,
When there’s a choice for wrong,
For evil is easier,
And man’s wills’ are not strong?”

The angel replied, smugly no less:

“The righteous man,
With faith in his heart,
Would not do evil,
Only good would he impart.”

The demon pondered and then remarked:

“Perhaps, what we need is a test,
A test of a man’s will,
A trial to test the man’s constitution,
To take place on yonder hill.”

The angel looked at the sloping hill,
With greener grass than on any other,
And decided to place a wager
With his Hell-born brother.

“The man’s soul, we shall bet,
With which the winner decides what to do.
Damn him or bless him,
Only one of those eternal two.”

A man walked by the riverbed,
His feet splashing in the stream.
He saw no demon, no angel, no bet
All he saw was his daydream.

The demon walked over, spoke in his left ear:

“I can give you everything,
Power, fortune, and fame.
All that you must do
Is defile your God’s name.”

The angel then walked, spoke in his right ear:

“I can give you more,
More than you desire,
And all you must do
Is become a friar.”

Easily swayed and ever lazy
The man defiled the name of God.
And the devil won his eternal bet,
And took the soul from its pod.

And so it passed, time and again.
Man did evil and lost his soul.
The world turned away from light
And became as dark, black as coal.

May Man change his ways,
Turn back to the light,
Destroy all things evil,
Let us win this fight.