Ballads for the Times (Now first collected,) Geraldine, A Modern Pyramid, Bartenus, A Thousand Lines, and other poems. By Martin F. Tupper. A new Edition, enlarged and revised |
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 | Ballads for the Times |  |
26
St. Helier's Hermitage, Jersey.
A Vindication.
Anchorite, whose rugged nest,
Swept by wind and wash'd by wave,
Perch'd on yonder rocky crest
Was thy dwelling, and thy grave,—
Should I mock thee, holy man?
Should I not revere thy name?
Nor do honour, if I can,
To St. Helier's martyr-fame?
Swept by wind and wash'd by wave,
Perch'd on yonder rocky crest
Was thy dwelling, and thy grave,—
Should I mock thee, holy man?
Should I not revere thy name?
Nor do honour, if I can,
To St. Helier's martyr-fame?
Come, ye scoffers, and behold!
Here is the luxurious bed
Where your pamper'd monk of old
Nightly laid his aged head:
In this cave he wept, and pray'd,—
Till the Northman pirate came,
And achieved with bloody blade
Our poor hermit's martyr-fame!
Here is the luxurious bed
Where your pamper'd monk of old
Nightly laid his aged head:
In this cave he wept, and pray'd,—
Till the Northman pirate came,
And achieved with bloody blade
Our poor hermit's martyr-fame!
True,—in venial error still
His devotion stood aloof
From the world and all its ill,
Under this low vaulted roof;
Yet, he wrestled in his cell
For high heav'n his soul to frame,—
O ye worldlings, it were well
Could ye win such martyr-fame!
His devotion stood aloof
From the world and all its ill,
Under this low vaulted roof;
Yet, he wrestled in his cell
For high heav'n his soul to frame,—
O ye worldlings, it were well
Could ye win such martyr-fame!
| Ballads for the Times | |