"Having never known..."

"Having never known the man I really couldn't say.
And all the wishing, poorer still
Never the less I feel it impinging upon my sensibilities
And am all the more distressed for that which I cannot affect.

If it were another way
And I could perform some great feat-
but alas, such is not available to me,
And it is only this way here.

Knowing the evil in my heart
And how great a weakness lives within me
I am at a loss as to how to proceed,
The mercies of God are all that remain for me."

And who hasn't felt a kindred pang for such sentiment as this?