Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON THE GRAVE OF BISHOP KEN, AT FROME, IN SOMERSETSHIRE, by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON THE GRAVE OF BISHOP KEN, AT FROME, IN SOMERSETSHIRE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Let other thoughts, where'er I roam
Last Line: To conquer unresisting!
Alternate Author Name(s): Houghton, 1st Baron; Houghton, Lord
Subject(s): Graves; Ken, Thomas (1637-1711); Tombs; Tombstones


LET other thoughts, where'er I roam,
Ne'er from my memory cancel
The coffin-fashioned tomb at Frome
That lies behind the chancel;
A basket-work where bars are bent,
Iron in place of osier,
And shapes above that represent
A mitre and a crosier.

These signs of him that slumbers there
The dignity betoken;
These iron bars a heart declare
Hard bent but never broken;
This form pourtrays how souls like his,
Their pride and passion quelling,
Preferr'd to earth's high palaces
This calm and narrow dwelling.

There with the church-yard's common dust
He loved his own to mingle;
The faith in which he placed his trust
Was nothing rare or single;
Yet laid he to the sacred wall
As close as he was able,
The blessed crumbs might almost fall
Upon him from God's table.

Who was this Father of the Church,
So secret in his glory?
In vain might antiquarians search
For record of his story;
But preciously tradition keeps
The fame of holy men;
So there the Christian smiles or weeps
For love of Bishop Ken.

A name his country once forsook,
But now with joy inherits,
Confessor in the Church's book,
And Martyr in the Spirit's!
That dared with royal power to cope,
In peaceful faith persisting,
A braver Becket -- who could hope
To conquer unresisting!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net