Elements five of feigned life
Of a sly hypocrite within laugh.
Of what avail are sky-high shows
When guilt the conscience gnaws and knows
Vaunting sainthood while weak within
Seems a grazer with tiger skin.
Sinning in saintly show is like
Fowlers in ambush birds to strike.
Who false within but freedom feign
Shall moan "What have we done" with pain
Vilest is he who seems a saint
Cheating the world without restraint.
Berry-red is his outward view,
Black like its nose his inward hue.
Filthy in mind some bathe in streams
Hiding sins in showy extremes.
Know men by acts and not by forms
Strait arrow kills, bent lute but charms.
No balding nor tangling the hair!
Abstain from condemned acts with care
IMPOSTURE
