XXIV

SAINTS

E, too, must fly before a chasing hand,

YE

Angels and Saints, in every hamlet mourned! Ah! if the old idolatry be spurned,

Let not your radiant Shapes desert the Land:
Her adoration was not your demand,

The fond heart proffered it-the servile heart;
And therefore are ye summoned to depart,
Michael, and thou, St. George, whose flaming brand
The Dragon quelled; and valiant Margaret
Whose rival sword a like Opponent slew:
And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted Queen
Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene,
Who in the penitential desert met

Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew !

M

XXV

THE VIRGIN

OTHER! whose virgin bosom was uncrost

With the least shade of thought to sin allied;

Woman! above all women glorified,

Our tainted nature's solitary boast;

Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast;
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend,
As to a visible Power, in which did blend
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee
Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

N

XXVI

APOLOGY

OT utterly unworthy to endure

Was the supremacy of crafty Rome;
Age after age to the arch of Christendom
Aërial keystone haughtily secure ;

Supremacy from Heaven transmitted pure,
As many hold; and, therefore, to the tomb

Pass, some through fire—and by the scaffold some-
Like saintly Fisher, and unbending More.

1Ο

'Lightly for both the bosom's lord did sit
Upon his throne'; unsoftened, undismayed
By aught that mingled with the tragic scene
Of pity or fear; and More's gay genius played
With the inoffensive sword of native wit,
Than the bare axe more luminous and keen.

ΤΟ

D'

XXVII

IMAGINATIVE REGRETS

EEP is the lamentation! Not alone

From Sages justly honoured by mankind;
But from the ghostly tenants of the wind,
Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan
Issues for that dominion overthrown :
Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind
As his own worshippers: and Nile, reclined
Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan
Renews. Through every forest, cave, and den,

Where frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past 10

Hangs o'er the Arabian Prophet's native Waste,

Where once his airy helpers schemed and planned

'Mid spectral lakes bemocking thirsty men,

And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.

G

XXVIII

REFLECTIONS

RANT that by this unsparing hurricane

Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away,

And goodly fruitage with the mother-spray;
'Twere madness-wished we, therefore, to detain,
With hands stretched forth in mollified disdain,
The 'trumpery' that ascends in bare display—
Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey—
Upwhirled, and flying o'er the ethereal plain
Fast bound for Limbo Lake. And yet not choice
But habit rules the unreflecting herd,

And airy bonds are hardest to disown;

Hence, with the spiritual sovereignty transferred
Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice

Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown.

BUT

XXIX

TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE

UT, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book,
In dusty sequestration wrapt too long,

Assumes the accents of our native tongue;

And he who guides the plough, or wields the crook,
With understanding spirit now may look
Upon her records, listen to her song,

And sift her laws-much wondering that the wrong, Which Faith has suffered, Heaven could calmly brook. Transcendent Boon! noblest that earthly King

Ever bestowed to equalize and bless

Under the weight of mortal wretchedness!

But passions spread like plagues, and thousands wild
With bigotry shall tread the Offering

Beneath their feet, detested and defiled.

XXX

THE POINT AT ISSUE

OR what contend the wise?-for nothing less

F°

ΙΟ

Than that the Soul, freed from the bonds of
Sense,

And to her God restored by evidence

Of things not seen, drawn forth from their recess,
Root there, and not in forms, her holiness ;-
For Faith, which to the Patriarchs did dispense
Sure guidance, ere a ceremonial fence

Was needful round men thirsting to transgress;-
For Faith, more perfect still, with which the Lord
Of all, himself a Spirit, in the youth

Of Christian aspiration, deigned to fill

The temples of their hearts who, with his word
Informed, were resolute to do his will,

And worship him in spirit and in truth.

XXXI

Published 1827

ΙΟ

EDWARD VI

'S

WEET is the holiness of Youth'-so felt

Time-honoured Chaucer speaking through that
Lay

By which the Prioress beguiled the way,
And many a Pilgrim's rugged heart did melt.

Hadst thou, loved Bard! whose spirit often dwelt
In the clear land of vision, but foreseen

King, child, and seraph, blended in the mien
Of pious Edward kneeling as he knelt

In meek and simple infancy, what joy
For universal Christendom had thrilled

Thy heart! what hopes inspired thy genius, skilled

(O great Precursor, genuine morning Star) The lucid shafts of reason to employ, Piercing the Papal darkness from afar!

ΤΗ

XXXII

EDWARD SIGNING THE WARRANT FOR THE

EXECUTION OF JOAN OF KENT

HE tears of man in various measure gush
From various sources; gently overflow
From blissful transport some-from clefts of woe
Some with ungovernable impulse rush;
And some, coëval with the earliest blush
Of infant passion, scarcely dare to show
Their pearly lustre coming but to go;

And some break forth when others' sorrows crush
The sympathising heart. Nor these, nor yet
The noblest drops to admiration known,
To gratitude, to injuries forgiven-

Claim Heaven's regard like waters that have wet
The innocent eyes of youthful Monarchs driven
Το pen the mandates nature doth disown.

XXXIII

REVIVAL OF POPERY

HE saintly Youth has ceased to rule, discrowned
By unrelenting Death. O People keen

TH

For change, to whom the new looks always green!
Rejoicing did they cast upon the ground

Their Gods of wood and stone; and, at the sound
Of counter-proclamation, now are seen
(Proud triumph is it for a sullen Queen!)
Lifting them up, the worship to confound
Of the Most High. Again do they invoke
The Creature, to the Creature glory give;
Again with frankincense the altars smoke
Like those the Heathen served; and mass is sung;
And prayer, man's rational prerogative,

Runs through blind channels of an unknown tongue.

Published 1827

ΤΟ

ΙΟ

ΙΟ

H

XXXIV

LATIMER AND RIDLEY

OW fast the Marian death-list is unrolled!
See Latimer and Ridley in the might
Of Faith stand coupled for a common flight!
One (like those prophets whom God sent of old)
Transfigured, from this kindling hath foretold
A torch of inextinguishable light;

The Other gains a confidence as bold;
And thus they foil their enemy's despite.
The penal instruments, the shows of crime,
Are glorified while this once-mitred pair

Of saintly Friends the 'murtherer's chain partake,
Corded, and burning at the social stake':
Earth never witnessed object more sublime
In constancy, in fellowship more fair!

XXXV

CRANMER

Published 1827

UTSTRETCHING flameward his upbraided hand (O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat

OUTSTRETCHING fame ward

Of judgment such presumptuous doom repeat!)
Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer stand;
Firm as the stake to which with iron band
His frame is tied; firm from the naked feet
To the bare head. The victory is complete;
The shrouded Body to the Soul's command
Answers with more than Indian fortitude,
Through all her nerves with finer sense endued,
Till breath departs in blissful aspiration:

Then, 'mid the ghastly ruins of the fire,

Behold the unalterable heart entire,

Emblem of faith untouched, miraculous attestation! 2

XXXVI

GENERAL VIEW OF THE TROUBLES OF THE REFORMATION

ALD, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light,

mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust

(While we look round) that Heaven's decrees are just : Which few can hold committed to a fight

1 See Note.

2 For the belief in this fact, see the contemporary Historians.

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ΤΟ