THE BLUSH OF CONSTANTINE AT THE COUNCIL OF NICE by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

To that high Council gathered to compose
The troubled waters of the Church of Christ,
And with her noble words convince her foes,
Came the great monarch, faithful to his tryst;
But lo! on entering, how his visage glows
With sudden reverence, that doth enlist
The sympathies of bishop, courtier, priest;
Who gaze in tender silence on the rose
He brings to their first meeting, and address
Themselves with braver hearts to their grand cause;
And, though in aftertimes his zeal grew less
For the pure creed of those whose eyes he draws,
All is congenial now. They find no flaw
In that king's-aspect, dashed with holy awe.

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