Lukewarmness, though with self content,
    And with the status quo,
Is not so foolishly intent
    His temperature to show.

He wants to shine in others’ eyes,
    And seem what he is not.
He seeks a plausible disguise
    To make him look more hot.

What calls for bland conformity,
    Yet has a pious ring?—
“Submission to authority!”
    Now, that’s the very thing!

Submission has a humble air
    And suits his purpose well.
Her virtue he may seem to wear—
    Though just the outer shell.

She forms a cloak of godliness
 His coolness to conceal,
And clothes his natural carelessness
 In her apparent zeal.

Her virtue, though, is all pretend,
    When put to such abuse.
Submission must the truth attend
    To find a noble use.

When she’s an aid to righteousness
    And curbs the lusts of youth,
She will humility possess
    And bear the marks of truth.

But when for self-complacency,
    A justifying cloak,
She loses all her piety
    In that unequal yoke.