 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
548
[Here let the Church her holy mission prove]
Here let the Church her holy mission proveOf Truth and Liberty of Love and Joy
The image of that heavenly House above
Which naught again shall threaten or destroy
Within her walls wide as the social state
Through countless years may all the people throng
With joyful hearts and countenances sedate
To bow in worship and to join in song
No more without her fold may Childhood stray
To wander in the desert parched and wild
Forgetful of the strait and narrow way
By Pleasure's voice from virtue's path beguiled
But happy in her sacred courts remain
Its heart still young its robe without a stain.
Poem No. 170; c. 1878–80
| Jones Very : The Complete Poems | |