XI

TRANSUBSTANTIATION

ENOUGH! for see, with dim association
The tapers burn; the odorous incense feeds
A greedy flame; the pompous mass proceeds;
The Priest bestows the appointed consecration ;
And, while the HOST is raised, its elevation
An awe and supernatural horror breeds;
And all the people bow their heads, like reeds
To a soft breeze, in lowly adoration.

This Valdo brooks1 not.* On the banks of Rhone
He taught, till persecution chased him thence,

To adore the Invisible, and Him alone.
Nor are 2 his Followers loth to seek defence,

'Mid woods and wilds, on Nature's craggy throne,
From rites that trample upon soul and sense.

XII

THE VAUDOIS

Published 1835

BUT whence came they who for the Saviour Lord Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach ?———

5

ΙΟ

* Peter Waldo (or Valdo), a rich merchant of Lyons (1160 or 1170), becoming religious, dedicated himself to poverty and almsgiving. Disciples gathered round him; and they were called the poor men of Lyons-a modest, frugal, and industrious order. They were reformers before the Reformation. Peter Waldo exposed the corruption of the clergy, had the four gospels translated for the people, and maintained the rights of the laity to read them to the masses. He was condemned by the Lateran Council in 1179.-ED.

Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach

In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word,
Their fugitive Progenitors explored

Subalpine vales, in quest of safe retreats

5

Where that pure Church survives, though summer heats
Open a passage to the Romish sword,

Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown,
And fruitage gathered from the chesnut wood,
Nourish the sufferers then; and mists, that brood
O'er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrown,
Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts
Aliens, is God's good winter for their haunts.

XIII

"PRAISED BE THE RIVERS, FROM THEIR MOUNTAIN SPRINGS

Published 1835

PRAISED be the Rivers, from their mountain springs
Shouting to Freedom, "Plant thy banners here!" *
To harassed Piety, "Dismiss thy fear,

"And in our caverns smooth thy ruffled wings!
Nor be unthanked their final lingerings—
Silent, but not to high-souled Passion's ear—
'Mid reedy fens wide-spread and marshes drear,
Their own creation. Such glad welcomings
As Po was heard to give where Venice rose
Hailed from aloft those Heirs of truth divine 1

1 1837.

their tardiest lingerings

'Mid reedy fens wide-spread and marshes drear,
Their own creation, till their long career

5

ΤΟ

* See the story of the rebuilding of Rome after its plunder by the Gauls. -ED.

Who near his fountains sought obscure repose,
Yet came 1 prepared as glorious lights to shine,
Should that be needed for their sacred Charge;
Blest Prisoners They, whose spirits were 2 at large!

XIV

WALDENSES *

THOSE had given 3 earliest notice, as the lark
Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate;
Or 4 rather rose the day to antedate,

By striking out a solitary spark,

When all the world with midnight gloom was dark.Then followed the Waldensian bands, whom Hate 5

End in the sea engulphed. Such welcomings

As came from mighty Po when Venice rose,
Greeted those simple Heirs of truth divine

1 1837.

Yet were

2 1840.

1835.

1835.

4

At length come those Waldensian bands, whom Hate 1840.

The followers of Peter Waldo afterwards became a separate community, and multiplied in the valleys of Dauphiné and Piedmont. They suffered persecutions in 1332, 1400, and 1478, but these only drove them into fresh districts in Europe. Francis I. of France ordered them to be extirpated from Piedmont in 1541, and many were massacred. In 1560 the Duke of Savoy renewed the persecution at the instance of the Papal See. Charles Emmanuel II., in 1655, continued it.-ED.

ARCHBISHOP CHICHELY TO HENRY V.

In vain endeavours 1 to exterminate,

*

47

Whom 2 Obloquy pursues with hideous bark:
But they desist not ;-and the sacred fire,3
Rekindled thus, from dens and savage woods
Moves, handed on with never-ceasing care,
Through courts, through camps, o'er limitary floods;
Nor lacks this sea-girt Isle a timely share
Of the new Flame, not suffered to expire.

10

XV

ARCHBISHOP CHICHELY TO HENRY V.

"WHAT beast in wilderness or cultured field

"The lively beauty of the leopard shows?

"What flower in meadow-ground or garden grows
"That to the towering lily doth not yield?
"Let both meet only on thy royal shield!

5

"Go forth, great King! claim what thy birth bestows; "Conquer the Gallic lily which thy foes

"Dare to usurp ;-thou hast a sword to wield,

*The list of foul names bestowed upon those poor creatures is long and curious-and, as is, alas! too natural, most of the opprobrious appellations are drawn from circumstances into which they were forced by their persecutors, who even consolidated their miseries into one reproachful term, calling them Patarenians, or Paturins, from pati, to suffer.

Dwellers with wolves, she names them, for the pine
And green oak are their covert; as the gloom
Of night oft foils their enemy's design,
She calls them Riders on the flying broom;
Sorcerers, whose frame and aspect have become
One and the same through practices malign.

W. W. 1822.

"And Heaven will crown the right.”—The mitred Sire Thus spake and lo! a Fleet, for Gaul addrest, Ploughs her bold course across the wondering seas; For, sooth to say, ambition, in the breast

Of youthful heroes, is no sullen fire,

But one that leaps to meet the fanning breeze.

*

XVI

WARS OF YORK AND LANCASTER

THUS is the storm abated by the craft

Of a shrewd Counsellor, eager to protect

The Church, whose power hath recently been checked, Whose monstrous riches threatened.

So the shaft

1

Of victory mounts high, and blood is quaffed
In fields that rival Cressy and Poictiers- †
Pride to be washed away by bitter tears!
For deep as Hell itself, the avenging draught
Of civil slaughter. Yet, while temporal power
Is by these shocks exhausted, spiritual truth
Maintains the else endangered gift of life;
Proceeds from infancy to lusty youth;
And, under cover of this 2 woeful strife,
Gathers unblighted strength from hour to hour.

1 1827.

But mark the dire effect in coming years!
Deep, deep as hell itself, the future draught

2 1827.

that

1822.

* Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1414, persuaded Henry V. to carry on war with France, and helped to raise money for the purpose. Henry crossed to Harfleur, Chichele accompanying him, with an army of 30,000, and won the battle of Agincourt.-ED.

te.g. the battles of St. Albans, Wakefield, Mortimer's Cross, Towton, Barnet, Tewkesbury, Bosworth.-ED.