Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
IV. Druidical Excommunication


          MERCY and Love have met thee on thy road,
          Thou wretched Outcast, from the gift of fire
          And food cut off by sacerdotal ire,
          From every sympathy that Man bestowed!
          Yet shall it claim our reverence, that to God,
          Ancient of days! that to the eternal Sire,
          These jealous Ministers of law aspire,
          As to the one sole fount whence wisdom flowed,
          Justice, and order. Tremblingly escaped,
          As if with prescience of the coming storm,                  10
          'That' intimation when the stars were shaped;
          And still, 'mid yon thick woods, the primal truth
          Glimmers through many a superstitious form
          That fills the Soul with unavailing ruth.

Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
V. Uncertainty


          DARKNESS surrounds us; seeking, we are lost
          On Snowdon's wilds, amid Brigantian coves,
          Or where the solitary shepherd roves
          Along the plain of Sarum, by the ghost
          Of Time and shadows of Tradition, crost;
          And where the boatman of the Western Isles
          Slackens his course--to mark those holy piles
          Which yet survive on bleak Iona's coast.
          Nor these, nor monuments of eldest name,
          Nor Taliesin's unforgotten lays,                            10
          Nor characters of Greek or Roman fame,
          To an unquestionable Source have led;
          Enough--if eyes, that sought the fountainhead
          In vain, upon the growing Rill may gaze.

Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
VI. Persecution


          LAMENT! for Diocletian's fiery sword
          Works busy as the lightning; but instinct
          With malice ne'er to deadliest weapon linked
          Which God's ethereal store-houses afford:
          Against the Followers of the incarnate Lord
          It rages; some are smitten in the field--
          Some pierced to the heart through the ineffectual shield
          Of sacred home;--with pomp are others gored
          And dreadful respite. Thus was Alban tried,
          England's first Martyr, whom no threats could shake;        10
          Self-offered victim, for his friend he died,
          And for the faith; nor shall his name forsake
          That Hill, whose flowery platform seems to rise
          By Nature decked for holiest sacrifice.

Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
VII. Recovery


          AS, when a storm hath ceased, the birds regain
          Their cheerfulness, and busily retrim
          Their nests, or chant a gratulating hymn
          To the blue ether and bespangled plain;
          Even so, in many a re-constructed fane,
          Have the survivors of this Storm renewed
          Their holy rites with vocal gratitude:
          And solemn ceremonials they ordain
          To celebrate their great deliverance;
          Most feelingly instructed 'mid their fear--                 10
          That persecution, blind with rage extreme,
          May not the less, through Heaven's mild countenance,
          Even in her own despite, both feed and cheer;
          For all things are less dreadful than they seem.

Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
VIII  Temptations From Roman Refinements



         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,
          Their radiance through the woods--may yet suffice
          To sap your hardy virtue, and abate
          Your love of Him upon whose forehead sate
          The crown of thorns; whose life-blood flowed, the price
          Of your redemption. Shun the insidious arts
          That Rome provides, less dreading from her frown         
          Than from her wily praise, her peaceful gown,
          Language, and letters;--these, though fondly viewed
          As humanising graces, are but parts
          And instruments of deadliest servitude!

Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
IX Dissensions     
   


          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
          Uplifting toward high Heaven her fiery brand,
          A cherished Priestess of the new-baptized!
          But chastisement shall follow peace despised.
          The Pictish cloud darkens the enervate land
          By Rome abandoned; vain are suppliant cries,
          And prayers that would undo her forced farewell;           
          For she returns not.--Awed by her own knell,
          She casts the Britons upon strange Allies
          Soon to become more dreaded enemies
          Than heartless misery called them to repel.

Ecclesiastical Sonnets
In Series, 1821-22.
X Struggle of the Britons Against the Barbarians




          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;--
          Amazement runs before the towering casque
          Of Arthur, bearing through the stormy field
          The virgin sculptured on his Christian shield:--
          Stretched in the sunny light of victory bask
          The Host that followed Urien as he strode
          O'er heaps of slain;--from Cambrian wood and moss     
          Druids descend, auxiliars of the Cross;
          Bards, nursed on blue Plinlimmon's still abode,
          Rush on the fight, to harps preferring swords,
          And everlasting deeds to burning words!