GRANT, that by this unsparing hurricane Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away, And goodly fruitage with the mother spray; 'Twere madness -- wished we, therefore, to detain, With hands stretched forth in mollified disdain, The "trumpery" that ascends in bare display -- Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey -- Upwhirled, and flying o'er the ethereal plain Fast bound for Limbo Lake. And yet not choice But habit rules the unreflecting herd, And airy bonds are hardest to disown; Hence, with the spiritual sovereignty transferred Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INSCRIPTIONS: 1. FOR A GROTTO by MARK AKENSIDE THE INDIAN BURYING GROUND by PHILIP FRENEAU DITTY IN IMITATION OF THE SPANISH: ENTRE TANTO QUE L'AVRIL by EDWARD HERBERT DORIS; A PASTORAL by ARTHUR JOSEPH MUNBY AT THE SHRINE by RICHARD KENDALL MUNKITTRICK LINES ON THE MONUMENT OF GIUSEPPE MAZZINI by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE SALOME by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE |