I fear the ser­pent’s hiss,
The prowl­ing li­on’s roar,
The tempt­er’s fas­ci­nat­ing wiles,
And his de­stroy­ing pow­er.

What sub­tle arts he tries,
To draw me in­to sin!
Presents th’al­lur­ing bait, but hides
The bane­ful hook with­in.

He makes fair pro­mis­es
Of safe­ty, peace and joy;
And where his craft does not pre­vail,
He’ll op­en force em­ploy.

A thou­sand forms he takes,
As best may suit his end;
Now a bright an­gel he ap­pears,
And now a hate­ful fiend.

But why should I of him
Be slav­ish­ly afraid?
Jesus, whose heel the ser­pent bruised,
Shall bruise the ser­pent’s head.