A Warning To Guard Poem by Rees Prichard

As soon as thou art wak'd from thy repose,
Reflect - that thou hast three invet'rate foes,
And each of them for thy destruction waits,
If thou dost not avoid his fraudful baits:

And yet, alas! the weakest of the three,
Is, e'en a thousand times, too strong for thee,
Unless thou weapons canst from Christ obtain,
And borrow'd might - the victory to gain.

Then of thy Saviour earnestly entreat,
That he wou'd furnish thee with arms complete,
And fill thee with true fortitude of mind,
To rout those enemies of humankind.

Upon thy head the Christian's helmet bear,
The strongest hopes of heaven thou canst wear,
Through which the pow'rful sov'reign of the air
Can never hurt, or force thee to despair.

Place thou the shield of Justice at thy breast,
Assur'd the Devil cannot e'er molest,
Or with his dread artill'ry injure those,
Who with this shield his fierce attacks oppose.

With Righteousness thy girded loins surround,
Nor deign to use Hypocrisy unsound:
For there's no neater, and stronger wear,
Than a true heart join'd to a mind sincere.

Thy feet with sandals from the Gospel grace,
Be patient in each circumstance and place:
Through many suff'rings and through many woes,
The Christian to his Sov'reign's palace goes.

Take Faith's strong shield, the arrows to repel -
The deadly shafts, shot by the prince of hell:
A lively faith in Christ will always cool
The fi'ry darts thrown from the flaming pool.

Take thou the scripture's keen, two-edged sword -
Take thou the mighty falchion of the Word -
For that's the trenchant blade, which at a blow
Can cut and cleave our fierce infernal foe.

About thee always keep the arms of God,
Though they be many, and oft deem'd a load;
Lest thou, without them shou'dst perchance be found,
And from the fiend receive a fatal wound -

And of th' all-glorious Trinity entreat
That this alliance thou may'st still defeat,
And that he'd grace and strength to thee afford,
In thy profession, well to serve the Lord.

Shou'd Satan ever find us off our guard,
And without armour, his assaults to ward,
We may be sure he'll roughly-handle those
Who shall, unarm'd, his deadly force oppose.

For if this helmet's, on the head, not plac'd -
The corselet, on the breast - and round the waist,
The belt - or if our feet are ever found
Unshod - the fiend our souls will surely wound.

Be therefore, like a soldier, still in arms,
Be strictly-watchful against all alarms,
Lest thou shou'dst by the guileful foe be foil'd,
And of eternal happiness despoil'd.

Whene'er thou goest from thy room, beware,
Lest thou shou'dst fall into some latent snare;
For Satan ever seeks, to hook thee in,
And tempt thee to commit some mortal sin.

Great is his rage, but greater his deceit -
Greater his fraud than force, however great -
He, like a lion, prowls about each hour,
For ever seeking whom he may devour.

The serpent's cunning, and the dragon's ire,
The lion's strength, the glaring tiger's fire,
The wolf's voraciousness, the fox's fraud,
Belong to Satan, when he roams abroad.

No sleep, nor rest he knows, by day or night,
E'er since he fell from the empyrean height,
But always seeks, with all his might, to slay
Each heedless soul, he meets with in his way.

Therefore of all his strategems, take care,
Lest thou shou'dst fall unweeting to the snare:
With ceaseless pray'rs Christ's matchless aid entreat;
And Christ will help thee, Satan to defeat.