book ii
. chaps. iii., viii., ix.)--ED.
[89] 1837.
And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway; 1822.
XXX
CANUTE
A pleasant music floats along the Mere, From Monks in Ely chanting service high, While-as Canùte the King is rowing by: "My Oarsmen," quoth the mighty King, "draw near, "That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!"[90] He listens (all past conquests and all schemes 6 Of future vanishing like empty dreams) Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear. The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still,[91] While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along, Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme.[92][93] 11 O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime And rudest age are subject to the thrill Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.
FOOTNOTES:
[90] A monk of Ely, who wrote a History of the Church (circa 1166), records a fragment of song, said to have been composed by Canute when on his way to a church festival. He told his rowers to proceed slowly, and near the shore, that he might hear the chanting of the Psalter by the monks, and he then composed a song himself.
Merie sangen the Muneches binnen Ely, Tha Cnut ching reu therby: Roweth cnites ner the land And here ye thes Muneches sang.--ED.
[91] 1827.
... was still, 1822.
[92] 1827.
... a memorial Rhyme. 1822.
[93] Which is still extant.--W. W. 1822. See last note.--ED.
XXXI
THE NORMAN CONQUEST
The woman-hearted Confessor prepares[94] The evanescence of the Saxon line. Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew!--the stars shine;[95] But of the lights that cherish household cares And festive gladness, burns not one that dares 5 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,[96] 10 Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires; Even so a thraldom, studious to expel Old laws, and ancient customs to derange, To Creed or Ritual brings no fatal change.[97]
FOOTNOTES:
[94] Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).--"There was something shadowlike in the thin form, the delicate complexion, the transparent womanly hands, that contrasted with the blue eyes and golden hair of his race; and it is almost as a shadow that he glides over the political stage. The work of government was done by sterner hands." (Green's _Short History of the English People_, chap. ii. sec. 2.)--ED.
XXXII
"COLDLY WE SPAKE. THE SAXONS, OVERPOWERED"
Published 1837
Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered By wrong triumphant through its own excess, From fields laid waste, from house and home devoured By flames, look up to heaven and crave redress From God's eternal justice. Pitiless 5 Though men be, there are angels that can feel For wounds that death alone has power to heal, For penitent guilt, and innocent distress. And has a Champion risen in arms to try His Country's virtue, fought, and breathes no more; 10 Him in their hearts the people canonize; And far above the mine's most precious ore The least small pittance of bare mould they prize Scooped from the sacred earth where his dear relics lie.
FOOTNOTES:
[95] 1827.
Hark! 'tis the Curfew's knell! the stars may shine; 1822.
[96] The introduction of the curfew-bell (_couvre-feu_, cover fire) into England is ascribed to the Conqueror, but the custom was common in Europe long before his time.--ED.
[97] 1837.
Brings to Religion no injurious change. 1822.
XXXIII
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; 5 Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye Have chased far off by righteous victory These sons of Amalek, or laid them low!"-- "GOD WILLETH IT," the whole assembly cry; Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds![98] 10 The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply;-- "God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds, And, in awe-stricken[99] Countries far and nigh, Through "Nature's hollow arch"[100] that voice resounds.[101][102]
FOOTNOTES:
[98] 1827.
... astounded. 1822.
[99] 1827.
... rebounded; Sacred resolve, in ... 1822.
[100] Compare Fuller's _Holy War_, I. 8.--ED.
[101] 1837.
... that night, resounded! 1822.
... the voice resounds. 1827.
[102] The decision of this Council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.--W. W. 1822.
There were several Councils of Clermont, the chief of them being that of 1095, at which the Crusade was definitely planned. Pope Urban II. addressed the Council in such a way that at the close the whole multitude exclaimed simultaneously _Deus Vult_; and this phrase became the war-cry of the Crusade.--ED.
XXXIV
CRUSADES
The turbaned Race are poured in thickening swarms 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 5 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, 10 Upheave, so seems it, from her natural station All Christendom:--they sweep along (was never So huge a host!)[103]--to tear from the Unbeliever The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.
FOOTNOTES:
[103] Ten successive armies, amounting to nearly 950,000 men, took
## part in the first Crusade. "The most distant islands and savage
countries," says William of Malmesbury, "were inspired with this ardent passion"--ED.
XXXV
RICHARD I
Redoubted King, of courage leonine, I mark thee, Richard! urgent to equip Thy warlike person with the staff and scrip; I watch thee sailing o'er the midland brine; In conquered Cyprus see thy Bride decline 5 Her blushing cheek, love-vows[104] upon her lip, And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship, As thence she holds her way to Palestine.[105] My Song, a fearless homager, would attend Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press 10 Of war, but duty summons her away To tell--how, finding in the rash distress Of those Enthusiasts a subservient friend, To[106] giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway.
FOOTNOTES:
[104] 1827.
... Love's vow ... 1822.
[105] Richard I. (Coeur de Lion), one of the two leaders in the third Crusade, after conquering Cyprus--on his way to Palestine--while in that island married Berengaria, daughter of Sanchez, King of Navarre.--ED.
[106] 1837.
Of those enthusiast powers a constant Friend, Through ... 1822.
XXXVI
AN INTERDICT[107]
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 5 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 smiles[108] of greeting. Bells are dumb; Ditches are graves--funereal rites denied; 10 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.
FOOTNOTES:
[107] At the command of Pope Innocent III., the Bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester were charged to lay England under an interdict. They did so, in defiance of King John, and left England. Southey's description of the result maybe compared with this sonnet. "All the rites of a Church whose policy it was to blend its institutions with the whole business of private life were suddenly suspended: no bell heard, no taper lighted, no service performed, no church open; only baptism was permitted, and confession and sacrament for the dying. The dead were either interred in unhallowed ground, without the presence of a priest, or any religious ceremony, ... or they were kept unburied.... Some little mitigation was allowed, lest human nature should have rebelled against so intolerable a tyranny. The people, therefore, were called to prayers and sermon on the Sunday, in the churchyards, and marriages were performed at the church door." (Southey's _Book of the Church_, vol. i. chap. ix. pp. 261, 262.)--ED.
[108] 1845.
... smile ... 1822.
XXXVII
PAPAL ABUSES
As with the Stream our voyage we pursue, The gross materials of this world present A marvellous study of wild accident;[109] Uncouth proximities of old and new; And bold transfigurations, more untrue 5 (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?[110] Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia:--crown, 10 Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down At a proud Legate's feet![111] The spears that line Baronial halls, the opprobrious insult feel; And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal.
FOOTNOTES:
[109] Compare Aubrey de Vere's _Thomas à Becket_.--ED.
[110] After Becket's murder and canonisation Henry II., from political motives, did penance publicly at his shrine. Clad in a coarse garment, he walked three miles barefoot to Canterbury, and at the shrine submitted to the discipline of the Church. Four bishops, abbots, and eighty clergy were present, each with a knotted cord, and inflicted 380 lashes. Bleeding he threw sackcloth over his shoulders, and continued till midnight kneeling at prayer, then visited all the altars, and returned fainting to Becket's shrine, where he remained till morning.--ED.
[111] On the festival of the Ascension, John "laid his crown at Pandulph's feet, and signed an instrument by which, for the remission of his sins, and those of his family, he surrendered the kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, to hold them thenceforth under him, and the Roman see." Pandulph "kept the crown five days before he restored it to John." (Southey, _Book of the Church_, vol. i. p. 218.)--ED.
XXXVIII
## SCENE IN VENICE
Black Demons hovering o'er his mitred head, To Cæsar's Successor the Pontiff spake;[112] "Ere I absolve thee, stoop! that on thy neck Levelled with earth this foot of mine may tread." Then he, who to the altar had been led, 5 He, whose strong arm the Orient could not check, He, who had held the Soldan[113] at his beck, Stooped, of all glory disinherited, And even the common dignity of man!-- Amazement strikes the crowd: while many turn 10 Their eyes away in sorrow, others burn With scorn, invoking a vindictive ban From outraged Nature; but the sense of most In abject sympathy with power is lost.
FOOTNOTES:
[112] The reference is to the legend of Pope Alexander III. and Frederick Barbarossa. See the Fenwick note prefixed to these sonnets.--ED.
[113] Soldan, or Sultan, "Soldanus quasi solus dominus."--ED.
XXXIX
PAPAL DOMINION
Unless to Peter's Chair the viewless wind[114] Must come and ask permission when to blow, What further empire would it have? for now A ghostly Domination, unconfined As that by dreaming Bards to Love assigned, 5 Sits there in sober truth--to raise the low, Perplex the wise, the strong to overthrow; Through earth and heaven to bind and to unbind!-- Resist--the thunder quails thee!--crouch--rebuff Shall be thy recompense! from land to land 10 The ancient thrones of Christendom are stuff For occupation of a magic wand, And 'tis the Pope that wields it:--whether rough Or smooth his front, our world is in his hand![115]
FOOTNOTES:
[114] Compare _Measure for Measure_, act III. scene i. l. 124.--ED.
[115] According to the canons of the Church, the Pope was above all kings, "He was king of kings and lord of lords, although he subscribed himself the servant of servants." He might dethrone kings, and tax nations, or destroy empires, as he pleased. All power had been committed to him, and any secular law that was opposed to a papal decree was, _ipso facto_, null and void.--ED.
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