COLDLY WE SPAKE

Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew!--the stars shine; 1
But of the lights that cherish household cares
And festive gladness, burns not one that dares
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,

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That quench, from hut to palace, lamps and fires,* 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.2

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

Though men be, there are angels that can feel
For wounds that death alone has power to heal,
For penitent guilt, and innocent distress.

1 1827.

Hark! 'tis the Curfew's knell! the stars may

5

shine;

2 1837.

Brings to Religion no injurious change.

1822.

1822.

* 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.

And has a Champion risen in arms to try

His Country's virtue, fought, and breathes no more;
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.

ΙΟ

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;
"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 ! 1
The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply ;—
"God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds,
And, in awe-stricken 2 Countries far and nigh,

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Through "Nature's hollow arch"* that voice resounds.3†

* Compare Fuller's Holy War, I. 8.-ED.

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

RICHARD I

31

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
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,
Upheave, so seems it, from her natural station
All Christendom :-they sweep along (was never
So huge a host!) to tear from the Unbeliever
The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.

*

5

ΙΟ

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
Her blushing cheek, love-vows 1 upon her lip,

5

1 1827.

Love's vow

1822.

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.

* 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.

And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship,
As thence she holds her way to Palestine.*
My Song, a fearless homager, would attend
Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press
Of war, but duty summons her away

To tell-how, finding in the rash distress
Of those Enthusiasts a subservient friend,
To1 giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway.

ΙΟ

XXXVI

AN INTERDICT †

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
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

1 1837.

5

* Richard I. (Cœur 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.

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 may be 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.

PAPAL ABUSES

With natural smiles 1 of greeting.

33.

Bells are dumb ;

Ditches are graves funereal rites denied ;
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.

XXXVII

PAPAL ABUSES

*

As with the Stream our voyage we pursue,
The gross materials of this world present
A marvellous study of wild accident;
Uncouth proximities of old and new ;
And bold transfigurations, more untrue
(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? †
Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia :-crown,
Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down
At a proud Legate's feet! ‡ The spears that line

1 1845.

smile

* Compare Aubrey de Vere's Thomas à Becket.-ED.

1822.

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† 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.

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.

VOL. VII

D