"Woe to you, Prelates! rioting in ease "And cumbrous wealth the shame of your estate; "You, on whose progress dazzling trains await "Of pompous horses; whom vain titles please;...
Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root In the blest soil of gospel truth, the Tree, (Blighted or scathed tho' many branches be, Put forth to wither, many a hopeful shoot)...
Threats come which no submission may assuage, No sacrifice avert, no power dispute; The tapers shall be quenched, the belfries mute, And, 'mid their choirs unroofed by selfish rage,...
The lovely Nun (submissive, but more meek Through saintly habit than from effort due To unrelenting mandates that pursue With equal wrath the steps of strong and weak) Goes forth unveiling timidly a cheek...
But, 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,...
Mother! 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;...
The 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, coeval with the earliest blush...
For what contend the wise? for nothing less 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,...
Aid, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light, Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust (While we look round) that Heaven's decrees are just: Which few can hold committed to a fight...
Watch, and be firm! for, soul-subduing vice, Heart-killing luxury, on your steps await. Fair houses, baths, and banquets delicate, And temples flashing, bright as polar ice,...
For ever hallowed be this morning fair, Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye tread, And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead Of martial banner, in procession bear;...
Rise! they 'have' risen: of brave Aneurin ask How they have scourged old foes, perfidious friends: The Spirit of Caractacus descends Upon the Patriots, animates their task;...
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...
Not sedentary all: there are who roam To scatter seeds of life on barbarous shores; Or quit with zealous step their knee-worn floors To seek the general mart of Christendom;...
"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,...
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...
Ay, Oliver! I was but seven, and he was eleven; He looked at me pouting and rosy. I blushed where I stood. They had told us to play in the orchard (and I only seven!...
The coffin [1] as I past across the lane Came sudden on my view. It was not here, A sight of every day, as in the streets Of the great city, and we paus'd and ask'd Who to the grave was going. It was one,...