05.05.2009, 18:44
THE CRUCIFIX.
O Thou, of temper captious, and of soul
Too dull, save outward things to comprehend ;
Whom that small wooden crucifix doth offend;
And water in its pine or beechen bowl;
By which, when bells for Ave Mary toll,
The peasant on these hills doth lowly bend;
Praying good angels will his house defend;
While o'er his sleeping head the planets roll.
Why railest at such ordinance ? for thus
Did Augustine, and venerable Bede,
And saints whose names above doth Peter know.
Not as of binding force it comes to us ;
But, when the emblem ye abjure, take heed,
Lest ye forget the inner meaning so.
O Thou, of temper captious, and of soul
Too dull, save outward things to comprehend ;
Whom that small wooden crucifix doth offend;
And water in its pine or beechen bowl;
By which, when bells for Ave Mary toll,
The peasant on these hills doth lowly bend;
Praying good angels will his house defend;
While o'er his sleeping head the planets roll.
Why railest at such ordinance ? for thus
Did Augustine, and venerable Bede,
And saints whose names above doth Peter know.
Not as of binding force it comes to us ;
But, when the emblem ye abjure, take heed,
Lest ye forget the inner meaning so.