XXIX.

DANISH CONQUESTS.

WOE to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey!
Dissension checks the arms that would restrain
The incessant Rovers of the Northern Main ;
And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway :
But Gospel-truth is potent to allay

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
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.

XXX.

CANUTE.

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

* Which is still extant.

XXXI.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST.

THE woman-hearted Confessor prepares
The evanescence of the Saxon line.
Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew! the stars shine,
But of the lights that cherish household cares
And festive gladness, burns not one that dares
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,
Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires,

Even so a thraldom studious to expel

Old laws and ancient customs to derange,

Brings to Religion no injurious change.

XXXII.

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; "Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye "Have chased far off by righteous victory "These sons of Amalec, or laid them low!" "GOD WILLETH IT," the whole assembly cry; Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds! The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply; "God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds, And in awe-stricken Countries far and nigh Through "Nature's hollow arch," the voice resounds.*.

* The decision of this council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.

XXXIII.

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
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,
Upheave (so seems it) from her natural station
All Christendom: - they sweep along - (was never
So huge a host!) to tear from the Unbeliever
The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation..