The last six lines of this Sonnet are chiefly from the prose of Daniel; and here I will state (though to the Readers whom this Poem will chiefly interest it is unnecessary) that my obligations to other Prose Writers are frequent, -obligations which, even if I had not a pleasure in courting, it would have been presumptuous to shun, in treating an historical subject. I must, however, particularise Fuller, to whom I am indebted in the Sonnet upon Wicliffe and in other instances. And upon the acquittal of the Seven Bishops I have done little more than versify a lively description of that event in the Memoirs of the
The song of Taliesing; - Ours shall mourn
The unarmed Host who by their prayers would t
The sword from Bangor's walls, and guard the st
Of Aboriginal and Roman lore,
And Christian monuments, that now must burn
To senseless ashes. Mark! how all things swe
From their known course, or vanish like a drear
Another language spreads from coast to coast;
Only perchance some melancholy Stream
And some indignant Hills old names preserve,
When laws, and creeds, and people all are lost
A BRIGHT-HAIRED company of youthful Slaves,
Beautiful Strangers, stand within the Pale
Of a sad market, ranged for public sale,
Where Tiber's stream the immortal City laves:
ANGLI by nanie; and not an Angel waves
His wing who seemeth lovelier in Heaven's eye
Than they appear to holy Gregory;
Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves
For Them, and for their Land. The earnest Sire
His questions urging, feels in slender ties
Of chining sound commanding sympathies;
DE-IRIANS he would save them from God's IRK:
Subjects of Saxon ELLA- they shall sing
Glad HALLElujahs to the eternal King!
FOR ever hallowed be this morning fair,
Blest be the unconscious shore on which
ye trend
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,
Sung for themselves, and those whom they would
Rich conquest waits them: the tempestuous s
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.
Ethelforth reached the convent of Bangor, he perceived the Monks, twelve hundred in number, offering prayers for the success of their countrymen: if they are praying against us,' he exclaimed, 'they are fighting against us; and he ordered them to be first attacked: they were destroyed; and, appalled by their fate, the courage of Brocmail wavered, and he fled from the field in dismay. Thus abandoned by their leader, gates, and rubbish, were all that remained of the mag nis army soon gave way, and Ethelforth obtained a decisive conquest. Ancient Bangor itself soon fell into his hands, and was demolished; the noble monastery was levelled to the ground its library, which is mentioned as a large one, the collection of ages, the repository of the most precious monuments of the ancient Britons, was consumed; half-ruined walls,
edifice." -See Turner's valuable History of the Angh
The account Bede gives of this remarkable event
a most striking warning against National and Relig» 2
judices.
Taliesin was present at the barle which preced desolation.
Fer to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
Were thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school
Sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,
Vibo comes with functions apostolical?
Vara hun, of shoulders curved, and stature tall,
Bax hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
prominent feature like an eagle's beak;
A Man whose aspect doth at once appal
Ar strike with reverence. The Monarch leans
Tard the pure truths this Delegate propounds,
epeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation, — then convenes
A good of his Counsellors: - give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear :
May's life is like a Sparrowt, mighty King! That, stealing in while by the fire you sit Hed with rejoicing Friends, is seen to flit Sete from the storm, in comfort tarrying. Here did it enter there, on hasty wing, "Fes out, and passes on from cold to cold; B: whence it came we know not, nor behold Whither it goes. Even such that transient Thing, Te human Soul; not utterly unknown We 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; The mystery if the Stranger can reveal,
* be a welcome cordially bestowed!"
"Ye heavy laden!" such the inviting voice Heard near fresh streams, and thousands, who ro
In the new Rite-the pledge of sanctity, Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.
NOR 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,
Outshining nightly tapers, or the blaze
Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords
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?
PRIMITIVE SAXON CLERGY.§
How 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;
Whence grace, through which the heart can under
stand;
And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.
The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers, for the convenience of baptism.
Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds:—“ Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis, aut monachus adveniret, gauden
ter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, et flexa cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici, gaudebant. Verbia quoque horum exhortatoriis diligenter auditum præbebant." Lib. iii. cap. 26.
Ан, when the Frame, round which in love we clung,
Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail?
Is tender pity then of no avail?
Are intercessions of the fervent tongue
BUT what if One, through grove or flowery mead,
Indulging thus at will the creeping feet
Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet
Thy hovering shade, O venerable Bede!
A waste of hope?- From this sad source have sprung The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed
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!
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!*
A Beed-roll, in his hand a clasped Book,
Or staff more harmless than a Shepherd's crook,
The war-worn Chieftain quits the world
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 without mercy, bring
For recompense their own perennial bower.
SAXON MONASTERIES, AND LIGHTS AND SHADE
OF THE RELIGION.
By such examples moved to unbought pains,
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 redeemablet, 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.
METHINKS 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 forest 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.
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, these Religious saved for all posterity.
Do in the supernatural world abide :
So vaunt a throng of Followers, filled with pride
In shows of virtue pushed to its extremes,
And sorceries of talent misapplied.
FOLD a Pupil of the Monkish gown,
The pious ALFRED, King to Justice dear!
1-rd of the harp and liberating spear;
Mirror of Princes! Indigent Renown
Wght range the starry ether for a crown
È un to his deserts, who, like the year,
Pers forth his bounty, like the day doth cheer,
And awes like night with mercy-tempered frown.
Ease from this noble Miser of his time
No moment steals; pain narrows not his cares.*
Tugh small his kingdom as a spark or gem,
Of Alfred boasts remote Jerusalem,
And Christian India, through her wide-spread clime,
Ismered converse gifts with Alfred shares.
WOE to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey !+
Dissension checks the arms that would restrain
The incessant Rovers of the Northern Main;
And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway:
But Gospel-truth is potent to allay
Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane
Feels, through the influence of her gentle reign,
His native superstitions melt away.
Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o'ershrouds,
The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear
Silently to consume the heavy clouds;
How no one can resolve; but every eye
Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear
And widening circuit of ethereal sky.
HIS DESCENDANTS.
Caught survive to linger in the veins
ff kindred bodies—an essential power
at may not vanish in one fatal hour,
And wholly cast away terrestrial chains?
race of Alfred covet glorious pains Wen dangers threaten, dangers ever new! ark tempests bursting, blacker still in view' manly sovereignty its hold retains; The root sincere, the branches bold to strive With the fierce tempest, while, within the round their protection, gentle virtues thrive; Asoft, 'mid some green plot of open ground, Wade as the oak extends its dewy gloom, The fostered byacinths spread their purple bloom.
A PLEASANT music floats along the Mere,
From Monks in Ely chanting service high,
Whileas Canùte the King is rowing by:
"My Oarsmen," quoth the mighty King, "draw near
"That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!"
He listens (all past conquests and all schemes
Of future vanishing like empty dreams)
Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear.
The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still,
While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along,
Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme.‡
O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime
And rudest age are subject to the thrill
Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.
INFLUENCE ABUSED.
by Ambition, who with subtlest skill ares her means, the Enthusiast as a dupe asar, and as a hypocrite can stoop, And turn the instruments of good to ill, ading the credulous People to his will. DUNSTAN:- from its Benedictine coop the master Mind, at whose fell swoop
The caste affections tremble to fulfil
Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified,
THE NORMAN CONQUEST. THE woman-hearted Confessor prepares The evanescence of the Saxon line. Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew! the stars shine, But of the lights that cherish household cares And festive gladness, burns not one that dares
+ The violent measures carried on under the influence of
Might of spiritual sway! his thoughts, his dreams, Dunstan, for strengthening the Benedictine Order, were a lead
Though the whole of his life, Alfred was subject to marva maladies.
ing cause of the second series of Danish Invasions. - See Turner.
To twinkle after that dull stroke of thine,
Emblem and instrument, from Thames to Tyne,
Of force that daunts, and cunning that ensnares!
Yet as the terrors of the lordly bell,
That quench, from hut to palace, lamps and fires,
Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires,
Even so a thraldom studious to expel
Old laws and ancient customs to derange,
Brings to Religion no injurious change.
Her blushing cheek, love-vows upon her lip,
And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship,
As thence she holds her way to Palestine.
My Song, (a fearless Homager) would attend
Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press
Of war, but duty summons her away
To tell how, finding in the rash distress
Of those enthusiast powers a constant Friend, Through giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway
THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT.
"AND shall," the Pontiff asks, "profaneness flow "From Nazareth source of Christian Piety, "From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony
And glorified Ascension? Warriors, go,
"With prayers and blessings we your path will sow; "Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye "Have chased far off by righteous victory "These sons of Amalec, or laid them low!" "God willeth IT," the whole assembly cry; Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds! The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply; "God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds, And, in awe-stricken Countries far and nigh, Through "Nature's hollow arch" the voice resounds.*
REALMS quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace,
The Church, by mandate shadowing forth the power
She arrogates o'er heaven's eternal door,
Closes the gates of every sacred place.
Straight from the sun and tainted air's embrace
All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn
Grows sad as night-no seemly garb is worn,
Nor is a face allowed to meet a face
With natural smile of greeting. Bells are dumb
Ditches are graves
funereal rites denied;
And in the Church-yard he must take his Bride
Who dares be wedded! Fancies thickly come
Into the pensive heart ill fortified,
And comfortless despairs the soul benumb.
THE turbaned Race are poured in thickening ewarms
Along the West; though driven from Aquitaine,
The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain;
And soft Italia feels renewed alarms;
The scimitar, that yields not to the charms
Of ease, the narrow Bosphorus will disdain;
Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain
Their tents, and check the current of their arms.
Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever
Known to the moral world, Imagination,
Upheave (so seems it) from her natural station
All Christendom: - they sweep along (was never
So huge a host!) to tear from the Unbeliever
The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.
As with the Stream our voyage we pursue,
The gross materials of this world present
A marvellous study of wild accident;
Uncouth proximities of old and new;
And bold transfigurations, more untrue,
(As might be deemed) to disciplined intent
Than aught the sky's fantastic element,
When most fantastic, offers to the view.
Saw we not Henry scourged at Becket's shrine?
Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia: - crown,
Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down
At a proud Legate's feet! The spears that line
Baronial Halls, the opprobrious insult feel;
And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal.
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