 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
65
HEAR THE CHURCH.
The Church?—how gladly would I hear the Church:I long to love and honour and obey,
And truly to be guided in the way,
And comforted and counsell'd in my search:
But where—where is She? who shall strike the truth
Between opposing factions, priest and lay,
The one, to Rome perverting half our youth,
The other leading liberally astray?
Is She indeed embalm'd in magic rite,
And sacramental miracle forsooth,
Resurgent from that mediæval night?
Nor rather living still, and to be found,
With secret ministration shedding light,
In men of every race and sect around?
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |