Baronial halls, the opprobrious insult feel;
And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal.

XXXVIII

SCENE IN VENICE

BLACK Demons hovering o'er his mitred head,
To Cæsar's Successor the Pontiff spake ; *
"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,

He, whose strong arm the Orient could not check,
He, who had held the Soldan † at his beck,
Stooped, of all glory disinherited,

And even the common dignity of man!—

Amazement strikes the crowd: while many turn
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.

5

IO

XXXIX

PAPAL DOMINION

UNLESS to Peter's Chair the viewless wind ‡
Must come and ask permission when to blow,
What further empire would it have? for now
A ghostly Domination, unconfined

*The reference is to the legend of Pope Alexander III. and Frederick Barbarossa. See the Fenwick note prefixed to these sonnets.-ED.

+ Soldan, or Sultan, "Soldanus quasi solus dominus."-Ed. Compare Measure for Measure, act III. scene i. l. 124.-ED.

HOW SOON-ALAS! DID MAN

As that by dreaming Bards to Love assigned,
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
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 ! *

PART II

TO THE CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.

I

“HOW SOON—ALAS! DID MAN, CREATED PURE"

Published 1845

How soon-alas! did Man, created pure-
By Angels guarded, deviate from the line
Prescribed to duty:-woeful forfeiture 1

Even when the state of man seems most secure
And tempted least to deviate from the line
Of simple duty, woeful forfeiture

C.

How difficult for man to keep the line

Prescribed by duty! Happy once and pure

C.

"

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.

He made by wilful breach of law divine.
With like perverseness did the Church abjure
Obedience to her Lord, and haste to twine,1

'Mid Heaven-born flowers that shall for aye endure,
Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.
O Man,-if with thy trials thus it fares,
If good can smooth the way to evil choice,
From all rash censure be the mind kept free;
He only judges right who weighs, compares,
And, in the sternest sentence which his voice
Pronounces, ne'er abandons Charity.2

IO

5

II

"FROM FALSE ASSUMPTION ROSE, AND FONDLY HAIL'D"

1

Published 1845

FROM false assumption rose, and fondly hail'd
By superstition, spread the Papal power;

1845.

Though Angels watched lest man should from the line
Of duty sever, blest though he was, and pure

In thought and deed, a woeful forfeiture

He made by wilful breach of law divine,

The church of Christ how prompt was she to abjure
Allegiance to her Lord how prone to twine

2 1845.

(The visible church how prone was she to abjure
Allegiance to Christ's Kingdom and entwine
With glorious flowers that shall for aye endure
Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.
False man-if with thy trials thus it fared-
If good can smooth the way to evil choice,
From hasty answer be our minds kept free;
He only judges right who weighs, compares,
And, in the sternest sentence that his voice
May utter, ne'er abandons charity.

C.

C.

CISTERTIAN MONASTERY

Yet do not deem the Autocracy prevail'd
Thus only, even in error's darkest hour.

She daunts, forth-thundering from her spiritual tower
Brute rapine, or with gentle lure she tames.
Justice and Peace through Her uphold their claims;
And Chastity finds many a sheltering bower.
Realm there is none that if controul'd or sway'd
By her commands partakes not, in degree,
Of good, o'er manners arts and arms, diffused:
Yes, to thy domination, Roman See,
Tho' miserably, oft monstrously, abused
By blind ambition, be this tribute paid.*

37

6

1Ο

III

CISTERTIAN MONASTERY †

"HERE Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall, More promptly rises, walks with stricter heed,1 More safely rests, dies happier, is freed

1 1837.

with nicer heed,

1822.

* The following version of this sonnet is from a MS. copy of it in Words

worth's own handwriting.-ED.

On false assumption, though the Papal Power

Rests, and spreads wide, beduped, by ignorance hailed,

A darker empire must have else prevailed,

For deeds of mischief strengthening every hour.

Behold how thundering from her spiritual tower

She daunts brute rapine, cruelty she tames.

Justice and charity through her assert their claims,
And chastity finds many a sheltering bower.
Realm is there none that, if controlled or swayed

By her commands, partakes not in degree

Of good, on manners arts and arms diffused:

To mock thy exaltation, Roman See,

And to the Autocracy, howe'er abused

Through blind ambition, be this tribute paid.

The Cistertian order was named after the monastery of Citéaux or Cistercium, near Dijon, founded in 1998 by the Benedictine abbot, Robert of Molême.-ED.

Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal
A brighter crown.” *. -On yon Cistertian wall
That confident assurance may be read;

And, to like shelter, from the world have fled
Increasing multitudes. The potent call
Doubtless shall cheat full oft the heart's desires
Yet, while the rugged Age on pliant knee
Vows to rapt Fancy humble fealty,

A gentler life spreads round the holy spires ;
Where'er they rise, the sylvan waste retires,
And aëry harvests crown the fertile lea.

1

ΙΟ

5

IV †

"DEPLORABLE HIS LOT WHO TILLS THE GROUND"

Published 1835

DEPLORABLE his lot who tills the ground,
His whole life long tills it, with heartless toil
Of villain-service, passing with the soil

To each new Master, like a steer or hound,
Or like a rooted tree, or stone earth-bound;

5

1 1827.

desire;

1822.

* "Bonum est nos hic esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, surgit velocius, incedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicius, purgatur citius, praemiatur copiosius."- Bernard. "This sentence," says Dr. Whitaker, "is usually inscribed on some conspicuous part of the Cistertian houses."

W. W. 1822.

The following note, referring to Sonnets IV., XII., and XIII., appears in the volume of 1835-entitled Yarrow Revisited, and other Poems-immediately after the poem St. Bees

"The three following Sonnets are an intended addition to the 'Ecclesiastical Sketches,' the first to stand second; and the two that succeed, seventh and eighth, in the second part of the Series. (See the Author's Poems.) They are placed here as having some connection with the foregoing Poem." -ED.