book i

. chap, xxv.)--ED.

XV

PAULINUS

But, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall, Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school Of sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule, _Who_ comes with functions apostolical? Mark him,[48] of shoulders curved, and stature tall, 5 Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek, His prominent feature like an eagle's beak; A Man whose aspect doth at once appal And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans Toward the pure truths[49] this Delegate propounds, 10 Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds With careful hesitation,--then convenes A synod of his Councillors:--give ear, And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear![50]

FOOTNOTES:

[48] The person of Paulinus is thus described by Bede, from the memory of an eye-witness:--"Longæ staturæ, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilenta, naso adunco, pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu."--W. W. 1822.

[49] 1832.

Towards the Truths.... 1822.

[50] Paulinus won over Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, to the Christian faith, and baptized him "with his people," A.D. 627. (See _The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_.)--ED.

XVI

PERSUASION

"Man's life is like a Sparrow,[51] mighty King! "That--while at banquet with your Chiefs you sit "Housed near a blazing fire--is seen to flit "Safe from the wintry tempest. Fluttering,[52] "Here did it enter; there, on hasty wing, 5 "Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold; "But whence it came we know not, nor behold "Whither it goes. Even such, that transient Thing, "The human Soul; not utterly unknown "While in the Body lodged, her warm abode; 10 "But from what world She came, what woe or weal "On her departure waits, no tongue hath shown; "This mystery if the Stranger can reveal, "His be a welcome cordially bestowed!"

FOOTNOTES:

[51] See the original of this speech in Bede.--The Conversion of Edwin, as related by him, is highly interesting--and the breaking up of this Council accompanied with an event so striking and characteristic, that I am tempted to give it at length in a translation. "Who, exclaimed the King, when the Council was ended, shall first desecrate the altars and the temples? I, answered the Chief Priest: for who more fit than myself, through the wisdom which the true God hath given me, to destroy, for the good example of others, what in foolishness I worshipped? Immediately, casting away vain superstition, he besought the King to grant him what the laws did not allow to a priest, arms and a courser (equum emissarium); which mounting, and furnished with a sword and lance, he proceeded to destroy the Idols. The crowd, seeing this, thought him mad--he however, halted not, but, approaching, he profaned the temple, casting it against the lance which he had held in his hand, and, exulting in acknowledgement of the worship of the true God, he ordered his companions to pull down the temple, with all its enclosures. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far from York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at this day called Gormund Gaham [W. W. 1822], ubi pontifex ille, inspirante Deo vero, polluit ac destruxit eas, _quas ipse sacraverat aras_." The last expression is a pleasing proof that the venerable monk of Wearmouth was familiar with the poetry of Virgil.--W. W. 1832.

The following is Bede's account of the speech of "another of the king's chief men":--"The present life of man, O king, seems to me in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit, at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad. The sparrow, I say--flying in at one door, and immediately out at another--whilst he is within, is safe from the misty storm; but, after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, and of what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If therefore this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed."--ED.

[52] 1837.

"That, stealing in while by the fire you sit "Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen to flit "Safe from the storm, in comfort tarrying." 1822.

XVII

CONVERSION[53]

Prompt transformation works the novel Lore; The Council closed, the Priest in full career Rides forth, an armèd man, and hurls a spear To desecrate the Fane which heretofore He served in folly. Woden falls, and Thor 5 Is overturned: the mace, in battle heaved (So might they dream) till victory was achieved, Drops, and the God himself is seen no more. Temple and Altar sink, to hide their shame Amid oblivious weeds, "_O come to me, 10_ _Ye heavy laden!_" such the inviting voice Heard near fresh streams;[54] and thousands, who rejoice In the new Rite--the pledge of sanctity, Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.

FOOTNOTES:

[53] See Wordsworth's note to Sonnet XVI.--ED.

[54] The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers, for the convenience of baptism.--W. W. 1822.

XVIII

APOLOGY

Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend The Soul's eternal interests to promote: Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot; And evil Spirits _may_ our walk attend For aught the wisest know or comprehend; 5 Then be _good_ Spirits free[55] to breathe a note Of elevation; let their odours float Around these Converts; and their glories blend, The midnight stars outshining,[56] or the blaze Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords 10 Of good works, mingling with the visions, raise The Soul to purer worlds: and _who_ the line Shall draw, the limits of the power define, That even imperfect faith to man affords?

FOOTNOTES:

[55] 1827.

Then let the _good_ be free ... 1822.

[56] 1837.

Outshining nightly tapers, ... 1822.

XIX

PRIMITIVE SAXON CLERGY[57]

How beautiful your presence, how benign, Servants of God! who not a thought will share With the vain world; who, outwardly as bare As winter trees, yield no fallacious sign That the firm soul is clothed with fruit divine! 5 Such Priest, when service worthy of his care Has called him forth to breathe the common air, Might seem a saintly Image from its shrine Descended:--happy are the eyes that meet The Apparition; evil thoughts are stayed 10 At his approach, and low-bowed necks entreat A benediction from his voice or hand; Whence grace, through which the heart can understand, And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.

XX

OTHER INFLUENCES

Ah, when the Body,[58] round which in love we clung, Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail? Is tender pity then of no avail? Are intercessions of the fervent tongue A waste of hope?--From this sad source have sprung Rites that console the Spirit, under grief 6 Which ill can brook more rational relief: Hence, prayers are shaped amiss, and dirges sung For Souls[59] whose doom is fixed! The way is smooth For Power that travels with the human heart: 10 Confession ministers the pang to soothe In him who at the ghost of guilt doth start. Ye holy Men, so earnest in your care, Of your own mighty instruments beware!

FOOTNOTES:

[57] Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds:--"Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis aut monachus adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, et flexa cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici, gaudebant. Verbis quoque horum exhortatonis diligenter auditum praebebant" (Lib. iii. cap. 26.)--W. W. 1822.

[58] 1837.

... Frame,.... 1822

[59] 1832.

For those ... 1822.

XXI[60]

SECLUSION

Lance, shield, and sword relinquished--at his side A bead-roll, in his hand a claspèd book, Or staff more harmless than a shepherd's crook, The war-worn Chieftain quits the world--to hide His thin autumnal locks where Monks abide 5 In cloistered privacy. But not to dwell In soft repose he comes. Within his cell, Round the decaying trunk of human pride, At morn, and eve, and midnight's silent hour, Do penitential cogitations cling; 10 Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine In grisly folds and strictures serpentine;[61] Yet, while they strangle, a fair growth they bring,[62] For recompense--their own perennial bower.

FOOTNOTES:

[60] This, and the two following sonnets, were published in _Time's Telescope_, July 2, 1823.--ED.

[61] The "ancient elm," with ivy twisting round it "in grisly folds and strictures serpentine," which suggested these lines, grew in Rydal Park, near the path to the upper waterfall.--ED.

[62] 1837.

... strangle without mercy, bring 1822.

XXII

CONTINUED

Methinks that to some vacant hermitage _My_ feet would rather turn--to some dry nook Scooped out of living rock, and near a brook Hurled down a mountain-cove from stage to stage, Yet tempering, for my sight, its bustling rage 5 In the soft heaven of a translucent pool; Thence creeping under sylvan[63] arches cool, Fit haunt of shapes whose glorious equipage Would elevate[64] my dreams.[65] A beechen bowl, A maple dish, my furniture should be; 10 Crisp, yellow leaves my bed; the hooting owl My night-watch: nor should e'er the crested fowl From thorp or vill his matins sound for me, Tired of the world and all its industry.

FOOTNOTES:

[63] 1837.

... forest ... 1822.

[64] 1827.

Perchance would throng ... 1822.

[65] There are several natural "hermitages," such as this, near the Rydal beck.--ED.

XXIII

REPROOF

But what if One, through grove or flowery meed, Indulging thus at will the creeping feet Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet Thy hovering Shade, O[66] venerable Bede! The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed 5 Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat Of learning, where thou heard'st[67] the billows beat On a wild coast, rough monitors to feed Perpetual industry.[68] Sublime Recluse! The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt 10 Imposed on human kind, must first forget Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use Of a long life; and, in the hour of death, The last dear service of thy passing breath![69]

FOOTNOTES:

[66] 1827.

The hovering Shade of ... 1822.

[67] 1827.

... he heard ... 1822.

[68] Bede spent the most of his life in the seclusion of the monastery of Jarrow, near the mouth of the Tyne; the wild coast referred to in the Sonnet being the coast of Northumberland.--ED.

[69] He expired in the act of concluding a translation of St. John's Gospel.--W. W. 1822.

He expired dictating the last words of a translation of St. John's Gospel.--W. W. 1827.

XXIV

SAXON MONASTERIES, AND LIGHTS AND SHADES OF THE RELIGION

By such examples moved to unbought pains, The people work like congregated bees;[70] Eager to build the quiet Fortresses Where Piety, as they believe, obtains From Heaven a _general_ blessing; timely rains 5 Or needful sunshine; prosperous enterprise, Justice and peace:--bold faith! yet also rise The sacred Structures for less doubtful gains.[71] The Sensual think with reverence of the palms Which the chaste Votaries seek, beyond the grave; If penance be redeemable, thence alms 11 Flow to the poor, and freedom to the slave; And if full oft the Sanctuary save Lives black with guilt, ferocity it calms.

FOOTNOTES:

[70] See, in Turner's _History_, vol. iii. p. 528, the account of the erection of Ramsey Monastery. Penances were removable by the performance of acts of charity and benevolence.--W. W. 1822.

"Wherever monasteries were founded, marshes were drained, or woods cleared, and wastes brought into cultivation; the means of subsistence were increased by improved agriculture, and by improved horticulture new comforts were added to life. The humblest as well as the highest pursuits were followed in these great and most beneficial establishments. While part of the members were studying the most inscrutable points of theology, ... others were employed in teaching babes and children the rudiments of useful knowledge; others as copyists, limners, carvers, workers in wood, and in stone, and in metal, and in trades and manufactures of every kind which the community required." (Southey's _Book of the Church_, vol. i. chap. iv. pp. 61, 62.)--ED.

[71] 1832.

And peace, and equity.--Bold faith! yet rise The sacred Towers for universal gains. 1822.

And peace, and equity.--Bold faith! yet rise The sacred Structures for less doubtful gains. 1827.

XXV

MISSIONS AND TRAVELS

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; Whence they, like richly-laden merchants, come 5 To their belovèd cells:--or shall we say That, like the Red-cross Knight, they urge their way, To lead in memorable triumph home Truth, their immortal Una? Babylon, Learned and wise, hath perished utterly, 10 Nor leaves her Speech one word to aid the sigh[72] That would lament her;--Memphis, Tyre, are gone With all their Arts,--but classic lore glides on By these Religious saved for all posterity.

FOOTNOTES:

[72] 1827.

... speech wherewith to clothe a sigh 1822.

XXVI

ALFRED

Behold a pupil of the monkish gown, The pious ALFRED, King to Justice dear! Lord of the harp and liberating spear;[73] Mirror of Princes![74] Indigent Renown Might range the starry ether for a crown 5 Equal to _his_ deserts, who, like the year, Pours forth his bounty, like the day doth cheer, And awes like night with mercy-tempered frown. Ease from this noble miser of his time No moment steals; pain narrows not his cares.[75] 10 Though small his kingdom as a spark or gem, Of Alfred boasts remote Jerusalem,[76] And Christian India, through her wide-spread clime, In sacred converse gifts with Alfred shares.[77][78]

FOOTNOTES:

[73] "The memory of the life and doings of the noblest of English rulers has come down to us living and distinct through the mist of exaggeration and legend that gathered round it.... He lived solely for the good of his people. He is the first instance in the history of Christendom of the Christian king, of a ruler who put aside every personal aim or ambition to devote himself to the welfare of those whom he ruled. So long as he lived he strove 'to live worthily'; but in his mouth a life of worthiness meant a life of justice, temperance, and self-sacrifice. Ardent warrior as he was, with a disorganised England before him, he set aside at thirty-one the dream of conquest to leave behind him the memory, not of victories, but of 'good works,' of daily toils by which he secured peace, good government, education for his people.... The spirit of adventure that made him in youth the first huntsman of his day took later and graver form in an activity that found time amidst the cares of state for the daily duties of religion, for converse with strangers, for study and translation, for learning poems by heart, for planning buildings and instructing craftsmen in gold work, for teaching even falconers and dog-keepers their business.... He himself superintended a school for the young nobles of the court." (Green's _Short History of the English People_, chap. i. sec. 5.)--ED.

[74] Compare Voltaire, _Essai sur les Moeurs_, chap. xxvi.; and Herder's _Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit_. Werke (1820), vol. vi. p. 153.--ED.

[75] Through the whole of his life, Alfred was subject to grievous maladies.--W. W. 1822.

"Although disease succeeded disease, and haunted him with tormenting agony, nothing could suppress his unwearied and inextinguishable genius." (Sharon Turner's _History of the Anglo-Saxons_, vol. i.