 | Sonnets by the Rev. Charles Turner [i.e. Charles Tennyson] |  |
97
A NON-NATURAL EASTER.
Ill fares the priest to-day, who blinks the faithOf Easter, and, recoiling from the shock
Of the great theme submitted to his flock,
Reserves his thoughts about the Life and Death;
How false he feels when our high feast returns!
While, in his pulpit, on his sidelong eye
The chalice gleams, the great East window burns,
The snow-white board obtrudes its purity;
And he must go and bless it—yea, he goes!
Though covert ironies within him ask
Whether, in very deed, our Day-star rose;
'Tis sad to see him how he takes his mask
To meet the morning! timid and untrue,
And missing all the sweet airs and the dew!
| Sonnets by the Rev. Charles Turner [i.e. Charles Tennyson] | |