FOOTNOTES:

[79] 1837.

Can aught survive to linger in the veins
 Of kindred bodies—an essential power
 That may not vanish in one fatal hour,
 And wholly cast away terrestrial chains? 1822.

[80] 1832.

... covets ... 1822.

[81] In Eadward the elder, his son; Eadmund I., his grandson; Eadward (the Martyr), grandson of Eadmund I.; and Eadward (the Confessor), nephew to the Martyr.—Ed.

[82] 1827.

... to thrive
 With the fierce storm; meanwhile, ... 1822.

[83] As, pre-eminently, in the wood by the road, half-way from Rydal to Ambleside.—Ed.

XXVIII
INFLUENCE ABUSED

Urged by Ambition, who with subtlest skill
 Changes her means, the Enthusiast as a dupe
 Shall soar, and as a hypocrite can stoop,
 And turn the instruments of good to ill,
 Moulding the credulous people to his will. 5
 Such Dunstan:—from its Benedictine coop
 Issues the master Mind,[84] at whose fell swoop
 The chaste affections tremble to fulfil
 Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified,
 The Might of spiritual sway! his thoughts, his dreams,
 Do in the supernatural world abide: 11
 So vaunt a throng of Followers, filled with pride
 In what they see of virtues pushed to extremes,[85]
 And sorceries of talent misapplied.

FOOTNOTES:

[84] Dunstan was made Abbot of Glastonbury by Eadmund, and there he introduced the Benedictine rule, being the first Benedictine Abbot in England. His aim was a remodelling of the Anglo-Saxon Church, "for which," says Southey, "he was qualified by his rank, his connections, his influence at court, his great and versatile talents, and more than all, it must be added, by his daring ambition, which scrupled at nothing for the furtherance of its purpose." (Book of the Church, i. 6.) "Dunstan stands first in the line of ecclesiastical statesmen, who counted among them Lanfranc and Wolsey, and ended in Laud." "Raised to the See of Canterbury, he wielded for sixteen years, as the minister of Eadgar, the secular and ecclesiastical powers of the realm." (Green, i. 6.) In the effort to retain the ascendency he had won, he lent himself, however, to superstition and to fraud, to craft and mean device. He was a type of the ecclesiastical sorcerer.—Ed.

[85] 1837.

In shows of virtue pushed to its extremes, 1822.

XXIX
DANISH CONQUESTS

Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey![86]
 Dissension, checking[87] arms that would restrain
 The incessant Rovers of the northern main,[88]
 Helps to restore and spread a Pagan sway:[89]
 But Gospel-truth is potent to allay 5
 Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane
 Feels, through the influence of her gentle reign,
 His native superstitions melt away.
 Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o'ershrouds,
 The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear 10
 Silently to consume the heavy clouds;
 How no one can resolve; but every eye
 Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear
 And widening circuit of ethereal sky.

FOOTNOTES:

[86] The violent measures carried on under the influence of Dunstan, for strengthening the Benedictine Order, were a leading cause of the second series of Danish invasions. See Turner.—W. W. 1822.

[87] 1837.

Dissention checks the ... 1822.

[88] e.g. Anlaef, Haco, Svein. (See Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, book ii. chaps. iii., viii., ix.)—Ed.

[89] 1837.

And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway; 1822.

XXX
CANUTE

A pleasant music floats along the Mere,
 From Monks in Ely chanting service high,
 While-as Canùte the King is rowing by:
 "My Oarsmen," quoth the mighty King, "draw near,
 "That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!"[90]
 He listens (all past conquests and all schemes 6
 Of future vanishing like empty dreams)
 Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear.
 The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still,[91]
 While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along,
 Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme.[92][93] 11
 O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime
 And rudest age are subject to the thrill
 Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.

FOOTNOTES:

[90] A monk of Ely, who wrote a History of the Church (circa 1166), records a fragment of song, said to have been composed by Canute when on his way to a church festival. He told his rowers to proceed slowly, and near the shore, that he might hear the chanting of the Psalter by the monks, and he then composed a song himself.

Merie sangen the Muneches binnen Ely,
 Tha Cnut ching reu therby:
 Roweth cnites ner the land
 And here ye thes Muneches sang.—Ed.

[91] 1827.

... was still, 1822.

[92] 1827.

... a memorial Rhyme. 1822.

[93] Which is still extant.—W. W. 1822. See last note.—Ed.

XXXI
THE NORMAN CONQUEST

The woman-hearted Confessor prepares[94]
 The evanescence of the Saxon line.
 Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew!—the stars shine;[95]
 But of the lights that cherish household cares
 And festive gladness, burns not one that dares 5
 To twinkle after that dull stroke of thine,
 Emblem and instrument, from Thames to Tyne,
 Of force that daunts, and cunning that ensnares!
 Yet as the terrors of the lordly bell,
 That quench, from hut to palace, lamps and fires,[96] 10
 Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires;
 Even so a thraldom, studious to expel
 Old laws, and ancient customs to derange,
 To Creed or Ritual brings no fatal change.[97]

FOOTNOTES:

[94] Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).—"There was something shadowlike in the thin form, the delicate complexion, the transparent womanly hands, that contrasted with the blue eyes and golden hair of his race; and it is almost as a shadow that he glides over the political stage. The work of government was done by sterner hands." (Green's Short History of the English People, chap. ii. sec. 2.)—Ed.

XXXII
"COLDLY WE SPAKE. THE SAXONS, OVERPOWERED"

Published 1837

Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered
 By wrong triumphant through its own excess,
 From fields laid waste, from house and home devoured
 By flames, look up to heaven and crave redress
 From God's eternal justice. Pitiless 5
 Though men be, there are angels that can feel
 For wounds that death alone has power to heal,
 For penitent guilt, and innocent distress.
 And has a Champion risen in arms to try
 His Country's virtue, fought, and breathes no more; 10
 Him in their hearts the people canonize;
 And far above the mine's most precious ore
 The least small pittance of bare mould they prize
 Scooped from the sacred earth where his dear relics lie.

FOOTNOTES:

[95] 1827.

Hark! 'tis the Curfew's knell! the stars may shine; 1822.

[96] The introduction of the curfew-bell (couvre-feu, cover fire) into England is ascribed to the Conqueror, but the custom was common in Europe long before his time.—Ed.

[97] 1837.

Brings to Religion no injurious change. 1822.

XXXIII
THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT

"And shall," the Pontiff asks, "profaneness flow
 From Nazareth—source of Christian piety,
 From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony
 And glorified Ascension? Warriors, go,
 With prayers and blessings we your path will sow; 5
 Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye
 Have chased far off by righteous victory
 These sons of Amalek, or laid them low!"—
 "God willeth it," the whole assembly cry;
 Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds![98] 10
 The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply;—
 "God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds,
 And, in awe-stricken[99] Countries far and nigh,
 Through "Nature's hollow arch"[100] that voice resounds.[101][102]

FOOTNOTES:

[98] 1827.

... astounded. 1822.

[99] 1827.

... rebounded;
 Sacred resolve, in ... 1822.

[100] Compare Fuller's Holy War, I. 8.—Ed.

[101] 1837.

... that night, resounded! 1822.

... the voice resounds. 1827.

[102] The decision of this Council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.—W. W. 1822.

There were several Councils of Clermont, the chief of them being that of 1095, at which the Crusade was definitely planned. Pope Urban II. addressed the Council in such a way that at the close the whole multitude exclaimed simultaneously Deus Vult; and this phrase became the war-cry of the Crusade.—Ed.

XXXIV
CRUSADES

The turbaned Race are poured in thickening swarms
 Along the west; though driven from Aquitaine,
 The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain;
 And soft Italia feels renewed alarms;
 The scimitar, that yields not to the charms 5
 Of ease, the narrow Bosphorus will disdain;
 Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain
 Their tents, and check the current of their arms.
 Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever
 Known to the moral world, Imagination, 10
 Upheave, so seems it, from her natural station
 All Christendom:—they sweep along (was never
 So huge a host!)[103]—to tear from the Unbeliever
 The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.

FOOTNOTES:

[103] Ten successive armies, amounting to nearly 950,000 men, took part in the first Crusade. "The most distant islands and savage countries," says William of Malmesbury, "were inspired with this ardent passion"—Ed.

XXXV
RICHARD I

Redoubted King, of courage leonine,
 I mark thee, Richard! urgent to equip
 Thy warlike person with the staff and scrip;
 I watch thee sailing o'er the midland brine;
 In conquered Cyprus see thy Bride decline 5
 Her blushing cheek, love-vows[104] upon her lip,
 And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship,
 As thence she holds her way to Palestine.[105]
 My Song, a fearless homager, would attend
 Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press 10
 Of war, but duty summons her away
 To tell—how, finding in the rash distress
 Of those Enthusiasts a subservient friend,
 To[106] giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway.

FOOTNOTES:

[104] 1827.

... Love's vow ... 1822.

[105] Richard I. (Cœur de Lion), one of the two leaders in the third Crusade, after conquering Cyprus—on his way to Palestine—while in that island married Berengaria, daughter of Sanchez, King of Navarre.—Ed.

[106] 1837.

Of those enthusiast powers a constant Friend,
 Through ... 1822.

XXXVI
AN INTERDICT[107]

Realms quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace,
 The Church, by mandate shadowing forth the power
 She arrogates o'er heaven's eternal door,
 Closes the gates of every sacred place.
 Straight from the sun and tainted air's embrace 5
 All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn
 Grows sad as night—no seemly garb is worn,
 Nor is a face allowed to meet a face
 With natural smiles[108] of greeting. Bells are dumb;
 Ditches are graves—funereal rites denied; 10
 And in the church-yard he must take his bride
 Who dares be wedded! Fancies thickly come
 Into the pensive heart ill fortified,
 And comfortless despairs the soul benumb.

FOOTNOTES:

[107] At the command of Pope Innocent III., the Bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester were charged to lay England under an interdict. They did so, in defiance of King John, and left England. Southey's description of the result maybe compared with this sonnet. "All the rites of a Church whose policy it was to blend its institutions with the whole business of private life were suddenly suspended: no bell heard, no taper lighted, no service performed, no church open; only baptism was permitted, and confession and sacrament for the dying. The dead were either interred in unhallowed ground, without the presence of a priest, or any religious ceremony, ... or they were kept unburied.... Some little mitigation was allowed, lest human nature should have rebelled against so intolerable a tyranny. The people, therefore, were called to prayers and sermon on the Sunday, in the churchyards, and marriages were performed at the church door." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i. chap. ix. pp. 261, 262.)—Ed.

[108] 1845.

... smile ... 1822.

XXXVII
PAPAL ABUSES

As with the Stream our voyage we pursue,
 The gross materials of this world present
 A marvellous study of wild accident;[109]
 Uncouth proximities of old and new;
 And bold transfigurations, more untrue 5
 (As might be deemed) to disciplined intent
 Than aught the sky's fantastic element,
 When most fantastic, offers to the view.
 Saw we not Henry scourged at Becket's shrine?[110]
 Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia:—crown, 10
 Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down
 At a proud Legate's feet![111] The spears that line
 Baronial halls, the opprobrious insult feel;
 And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal.

FOOTNOTES:

[109] Compare Aubrey de Vere's Thomas à Becket.—Ed.

[110] After Becket's murder and canonisation Henry II., from political motives, did penance publicly at his shrine. Clad in a coarse garment, he walked three miles barefoot to Canterbury, and at the shrine submitted to the discipline of the Church. Four bishops, abbots, and eighty clergy were present, each with a knotted cord, and inflicted 380 lashes. Bleeding he threw sackcloth over his shoulders, and continued till midnight kneeling at prayer, then visited all the altars, and returned fainting to Becket's shrine, where he remained till morning.—Ed.

[111] On the festival of the Ascension, John "laid his crown at Pandulph's feet, and signed an instrument by which, for the remission of his sins, and those of his family, he surrendered the kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, to hold them thenceforth under him, and the Roman see." Pandulph "kept the crown five days before he restored it to John." (Southey, Book of the Church, vol. i. p. 218.)—Ed.

XXXVIII
SCENE IN VENICE

Black Demons hovering o'er his mitred head,
 To Cæsar's Successor the Pontiff spake;[112]
 "Ere I absolve thee, stoop! that on thy neck
 Levelled with earth this foot of mine may tread."
 Then he, who to the altar had been led, 5
 He, whose strong arm the Orient could not check,
 He, who had held the Soldan[113] at his beck,
 Stooped, of all glory disinherited,
 And even the common dignity of man!—
 Amazement strikes the crowd: while many turn 10
 Their eyes away in sorrow, others burn
 With scorn, invoking a vindictive ban
 From outraged Nature; but the sense of most
 In abject sympathy with power is lost.

FOOTNOTES:

[112] The reference is to the legend of Pope Alexander III. and Frederick Barbarossa. See the Fenwick note prefixed to these sonnets.—Ed.

[113] Soldan, or Sultan, "Soldanus quasi solus dominus."—Ed.

XXXIX
PAPAL DOMINION

Unless to Peter's Chair the viewless wind[114]
 Must come and ask permission when to blow,
 What further empire would it have? for now
 A ghostly Domination, unconfined
 As that by dreaming Bards to Love assigned, 5
 Sits there in sober truth—to raise the low,
 Perplex the wise, the strong to overthrow;
 Through earth and heaven to bind and to unbind!—
 Resist—the thunder quails thee!—crouch—rebuff
 Shall be thy recompense! from land to land 10
 The ancient thrones of Christendom are stuff
 For occupation of a magic wand,
 And 'tis the Pope that wields it:—whether rough
 Or smooth his front, our world is in his hand![115]

FOOTNOTES:

[114] Compare Measure for Measure, act III. scene i. l. 124.—Ed.

[115] According to the canons of the Church, the Pope was above all kings, "He was king of kings and lord of lords, although he subscribed himself the servant of servants." He might dethrone kings, and tax nations, or destroy empires, as he pleased. All power had been committed to him, and any secular law that was opposed to a papal decree was, ipso facto, null and void.—Ed.

PART II
TO THE CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.

I
"HOW SOON—ALAS! DID MAN, CREATED PURE"

Published 1845

How soon—alas! did Man, created pure—
 By Angels guarded, deviate from the line
 Prescribed to duty:—woeful forfeiture[116]
 He made by wilful breach of law divine.
 With like perverseness did the Church abjure 5
 Obedience to her Lord, and haste to twine,[117]
 'Mid Heaven-born flowers that shall for aye endure,
 Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.
 O Man,—if with thy trials thus it fares,
 If good can smooth the way to evil choice, 10
 From all rash censure be the mind kept free;
 He only judges right who weighs, compares,
 And, in the sternest sentence which his voice
 Pronounces, ne'er abandons Charity.[118]

FOOTNOTES:

[116] 1845.

Even when the state of man seems most secure
 And tempted least to deviate from the line
 Of simple duty, woeful forfeiture C.

How difficult for man to keep the line
 Prescribed by duty! Happy once and pure C.

[117] 1845.

Though Angels watched lest man should from the line
 Of duty sever, blest though he was, and pure
 In thought and deed, a woeful forfeiture
 He made by wilful breach of law divine,
 The church of Christ how prompt was she to abjure
 Allegiance to her Lord how prone to twine C.

[118] 1845.

{The visible church how prone was she to abjure}
 {Allegiance to Christ's Kingdom and entwine}
 With glorious flowers that shall for aye endure
 Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.
 False man—if with thy trials thus it fared—
 If good can smooth the way to evil choice,
 From hasty answer be our minds kept free;
 He only judges right who weighs, compares,
 And, in the sternest sentence that his voice
 May utter, ne'er abandons charity. C.

II
"FROM FALSE ASSUMPTION ROSE, AND FONDLY HAIL'D"

Published 1845

From false assumption rose, and fondly hail'd
 By superstition, spread the Papal power;
 Yet do not deem the Autocracy prevail'd
 Thus only, even in error's darkest hour.
 She daunts, forth-thundering from her spiritual tower
 Brute rapine, or with gentle lure she tames. 6
 Justice and Peace through Her uphold their claims;
 And Chastity finds many a sheltering bower.
 Realm there is none that if controul'd or sway'd
 By her commands partakes not, in degree, 10
 Of good, o'er manners arts and arms, diffused:
 Yes, to thy domination, Roman See,
 Tho' miserably, oft monstrously, abused
 By blind ambition, be this tribute paid.[119]

FOOTNOTES:

[119] The following version of this sonnet is from a MS. copy of it in Wordsworth's own handwriting.—Ed.

On false assumption, though the Papal Power
 Rests, and spreads wide, beduped, by ignorance hailed,
 A darker empire must have else prevailed,
 For deeds of mischief strengthening every hour.
 Behold how thundering from her spiritual tower
 She daunts brute rapine, cruelty she tames.
 Justice and charity through her assert their claims,
 And chastity finds many a sheltering bower.
 Realm is there none that, if controlled or swayed
 By her commands, partakes not in degree
 Of good, on manners arts and arms diffused:
 To mock thy exaltation, Roman See,
 And to the Autocracy, howe'er abused
 Through blind ambition, be this tribute paid.

III
CISTERTIAN MONASTERY[120]

"Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall,
 More promptly rises, walks with stricter heed,[121]
 More safely rests, dies happier, is freed
 Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal
 A brighter crown."[122]—On yon Cistertian wall 5
 That confident assurance may be read;
 And, to like shelter, from the world have fled
 Increasing multitudes. The potent call
 Doubtless shall cheat full oft the heart's desires:[123]
 Yet, while the rugged Age on pliant knee 10
 Vows to rapt Fancy humble fealty,
 A gentler life spreads round the holy spires;
 Where'er they rise, the sylvan waste retires,
 And aëry harvests crown the fertile lea.