XIV

GLAD TIDINGS

OR ever hallowed be this morning fair,

FOR

Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye tread,

And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead

Of martial banner, in procession bear;

The Cross preceding Him who floats in air,
The pictured Saviour!-By Augustin led,
They come and onward travel without dread,
Chanting in barbarous ears a tuneful prayer-

10

Sung for themselves, and those whom they would free!
Rich conquest waits them :-the tempestuous sea
Of Ignorance, that ran so rough and high
And heeded not the voice of clashing swords,
These good men humble by a few bare words,
And calm with fear of God's divinity.

B

XV
PAULINUS 1

UT, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school

Of sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,

Who comes with functions apostolical?

Mark him, of shoulders curved, and stature tall,
Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
His prominent feature like an eagle's beak;
A Man whose aspect doth at once appal
And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans
Toward the pure truths this Delegate propounds,
Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation,-then convenes
A synod of his Councillors :-give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear!

'M

XVI

PERSUASION

ΤΟ

AN'S life is like a Sparrow, mighty King!
That-while at banquet with your Chiefs you

sit

Housed near a blazing fire-is seen to flit
Safe from the wintry tempest. Fluttering,

1 See Note.

Here did it enter; there, on hasty wing,
Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold;
But whence it came we know not, nor behold
Whither it goes.
Even such, that transient Thing,

The human Soul; not utterly unknown

While in the Body lodged, her warm abode;
But from what world She came, what woe or weal
On her departure waits, no tongue hath shown;
This mystery if the Stranger can reveal,
His be a welcome cordially bestowed!' 1

ΙΟ

PRO

XVII

CONVERSION

ROMPT transformation works the novel Lore;
The Council closed, the Priest in full career
Rides forth, an armèd man, and hurls a spear
To desecrate the Fane which heretofore
He served in folly. Woden falls, and Thor
Is overturned; the mace, in battle heaved
(So might they dream) till victory was achieved,
Drops, and the God himself is seen no more.
Temple and Altar sink, to hide their shame
Amid oblivious weeds. O come to me,

Ye heavy laden!' such the inviting voice

ΙΟ

Heard near fresh streams;1 and thousands, who rejoice In the new Rite-the pledge of sanctity,

Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.

N

XVIII

APOLOGY

OR scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend
The Soul's eternal interests to promote:
Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot;
And evil Spirits may our walk attend
For aught the wisest know or comprehend;
Then be good Spirits free to breathe a note
Of elevation; let their odours float
Around these Converts; and their glories blend,
The midnight stars outshining, or the blaze
Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords

1 See Note.

ΤΟ

Of good works, mingling with the visions, raise
The Soul to purer worlds: and who the line
Shall draw, the limits of the power define,
That even imperfect faith to man affords ?

H

OW beautiful your presence, how benign,

Servants of God! who not a thought will share

With the vain world; who, outwardly as bare
As winter trees, yield no fallacious sign
That the firm soul is clothed with fruit divine!
Such Priest, when service worthy of his care
Has called him forth to breathe the common air,
Might seem a saintly Image from its shrine
Descended :-happy are the eyes that meet
The Apparition; evil thoughts are stayed
At his approach, and low-bowed necks entreat

A benediction from his voice or hand;

ΙΟ

Whence grace, through which the heart can understand, And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.

XX

OTHER INFLUENCES

H, when the Body, round which in love we clung,

AH,

Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail?

Is tender pity then of no avail ?

Are intercessions of the fervent tongue

A waste of hope?-From this sad source have sprung Rites that console the Spirit, under grief

Which ill can brook more rational relief:

Hence, prayers are shaped amiss, and dirges sung

For Souls whose doom is fixed! The way is smooth

For Power that travels with the human heart:

Confession ministers the pang to soothe

In him who at the ghost of guilt doth start.
Ye holy Men, so earnest in your care,
Of your own mighty instruments beware!

1 See Note.

ΤΟ

XXI

SECLUSION

ANCE, shield, and sword relinquished at his side
A bead-roll, in his hand a clasped book,

L

Or staff more harmless than a shepherd's crook,
The war-worn Chieftain quits the world-to hide
His thin autumnal locks where Monks abide
In cloistered privacy. But not to dwell
In soft repose he comes. Within his cell,
Round the decaying trunk of human pride,
At morn, and eve, and midnight's silent hour,
Do penitential cogitations cling;

Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine
In grisly folds and strictures serpentine;

Yet, while they strangle, a fair growth they bring,
For recompense-their own perennial bower.

ΤΟ

M

XXII

CONTINUED

ETHINKS that to some vacant hermitage

My feet would rather turn-to some dry nook Scooped out of living rock, and near a brook Hurled down a mountain-cove from stage to stage, Yet tempering, for my sight, its bustling rage In the soft heaven of a translucent pool; Thence creeping under sylvan arches cool, Fit haunt of shapes whose glorious equipage Would elevate my dreams. A beechen bowl, A maple dish, my furniture should be; Crisp, yellow leaves my bed; the hooting owl My night-watch: nor should e'er the crested fowl From thorp or vill his matins sound for me, Tired of the world and all its industry.

ΤΟ

XXIII

REPROOF

UT what if One, through grove or flowery mead,

B Indulging thus at will the creeping feet

Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet
Thy hovering Shade, O venerable Bede!

The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed

Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat

Of learning, where thou heard'st the billows beat
On a wild coast, rough monitors to feed
Perpetual industry. Sublime Recluse!

The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt
Imposed on human kind, must first forget
Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use

Of a long life; and, in the hour of death,
The last dear service of thy passing breath!1

XXIV

SAXON MONASTERIES, AND LIGHTS AND SHADES OF THE RELIGION

Y such examples moved to unbought pains,

BY

The people work like congregated bees;
Eager to build the quiet Fortresses

Where Piety, as they believe, obtains
From Heaven a general blessing; timely rains
Or needful sunshine; prosperous enterprise,
Justice and peace :-bold faith! yet also rise
The sacred Structures for less doubtful gains.
The Sensual think with reverence of the palms
Which the chaste Votaries seek, beyond the grave;
If penance be redeemable, thence alms

Flow to the poor, and freedom to the slave;
And if full oft the Sanctuary save

Lives black with guilt, ferocity it calms.

XXV

MISSIONS AND TRAVELS

OT sedentary all: there are who roam

N°

To scatter seeds of life on barbarous shores;

Or quit with zealous step their knee-worn floors

To seek the general mart of Christendom;

Whence they, like richly-laden merchants, come

To their beloved cells:-or shall we say

That, like the Red-cross Knight, they urge their way,
To lead in memorable triumph home

Truth, their immortal Una? Babylon,

Learned and wise, hath perished utterly,

Nor leaves her Speech one word to aid the sigh
That would lament her;-Memphis, Tyre, are gone
With all their Arts,- but classic lore glides on
By these Religious saved for all posterity.

ΙΟ

ΙΟ

ΤΟ

1 He expired dictating the last words of a translation of St. John's Gospel.