And what melodious sounds at times prevail! And, ever and anon, how bright a gleam Pours on the surface of the turbid Stream! What heartfelt fragrance mingles with the gale...
Furl we the sails, and pass with tardy oars Through these bright regions, casting many a glance Upon the dream-like issues, the romance Of many-coloured life that Fortune pours...
And, not in vain embodied to the sight, Religion finds even in the stern retreat Of feudal sway her own appropriate seat; From the collegiate pomps on Windsor's height...
Record we too, with just and faithful pen, That many hooded Cenobites there are, Who in their private cells have yet a care Of public quiet; unambitious Men, Counselors for the world, of piercing ken;...
That heresies should strike (if truth be scanned Presumptuously) their roots both wide and deep, Is natural as dreams to feverish sleep. Lo! Discord at the altar dares to stand...
Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain springs Shouting to Freedom, "Plant thy banners here!" To harassed Piety, "Dismiss thy fear, And in our caverns smooth thy ruffled wings!"...
But whence came they who for the Saviour Lord Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach? Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word,...
Enough! for see, with dim association The tapers burn; the odorous incense feeds A greedy flame; the pompous mass proceeds; The Priest bestows the appointed consecration;...
Those had given earliest notice, as the lark Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate; Or rather rose the day to antedate, By striking out a solitary spark,...
And what is Penance with her knotted thong; Mortification with the shirt of hair, Wan cheek, and knees indurated with prayer, Vigils, and fastings rigorous as long; If cloistered Avarice scruple not to wrong...
Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy, Their forefathers; lo! sects are formed, and split With morbid restlessness; the ecstatic fit Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply,...
Fear hath a hundred eyes that all agree To plague her beating heart; and there is one (Nor idlest that!) which holds communion With things that were not, yet were 'meant' to be....
Even such the contrast that, where'er we move, To the mind's eye Religion doth present; Now with her own deep quietness content; Then, like the mountain, thundering from above...
Holy and heavenly Spirits as they are, Spotless in life, and eloquent as wise, With what entire affection do they prize Their Church reformed! labouring with earnest care...
Harp! could'st thou venture, on thy boldest string, The faintest note to echo which the blast Caught from the hand of Moses as it passed O'er Sinai's top, or from the Shepherd-king,...
Prejudged by foes determined not to spare, An old weak Man for vengeance thrown aside, Laud, "in the painful art of dying" tried, (Like a poor bird entangled in a snare...
"What beast in wilderness or cultured field "The lively beauty of the leopard shows? "What flower in meadow-ground or garden grows "That to the towering lily doth not yield?...
"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;...
Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear, And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed: Yea, his dry bones to ashes are consumed And flung into the brook that travels near;...