ON A DESECRATED CHAPEL NEAR LAUSANNE, NOW USED AS A STABLE by ROWLAND EYLES EGERTON-WARBURTON

HARD by a brook, whose stream Lake Leman feeds,
A wayside chapel stands,—such seems it still;
But strains devout no more its echoes fill,
And thence unbless'd the passing pilgrim speeds;
His toil-worn oxen, when he thither leads,
At noon descending from the sun-scorch'd hill,
Trac'd on that wall with rude but reverent skill,
The sacred cross no more the peasant heeds.
If with such joy rejoic'd the angels, when
The ox was loos'd in Bethlehem's lowly shed,
His crib the cradle of the Virgin-born;
How must they weep to see, despis'd of men,
The spot His presence blest, worn by the tread
Of saints, that floor hoof-trampled and uptorn!

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...