The Sonnets Of Tommaso Campanella - The Samaritan.

Da Roma ad Ostia.     From Rome to Ostia a poor man went;             Thieves robbed and wounded him upon the way;             Some monks, great saints, observed him where he lay,             And left him, on their breviaries intent.     A Bishop passed thereby, and careless bent             To sign the cross, a blessing brief to say;             But a great Cardinal, to clutch their prey,             Followed the thieves, falsely benevolent.     At last there came a German Lutheran,             Who builds on faith, merit of works withstands;             He raised and clothed and healed the dying man.             Now which of these was worthiest, most humane?     The heart is better than the head, kind hands             Than cold lip-service; faith without works is vain.                             Who understands             What creed is good and true for self and others?--             But none can doubt the good he doth his brothers.