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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


VIE DE JESUS; ON HEARING OF A FORTHCOMING CHEAP EDITION by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: A BOOK OF PLEASANT PHRASE, BUT NARROW SPAN
Last Line: A FRAIL YOUNG SAINT, IN LIEU OF GOD THE WORD!
Subject(s): BOOKS; JESUS CHRIST - LIFE AND MINISTRY; READING;

A book of pleasant phrase, but narrow span
Of thought, is coming, in its cheapest guise,
Home to the hearths of each poor artisan
Throughout unhappy France - to make him wise
With a false gospel; and that, so enticed,
And flushed with petty raptures, he may give
His horny hands to this Parisian Christ,
Who lacks the strength to lift them! Shall it live
This pleasant book? Oh! join with one accord!
Reject the lore, which - void of spleen or joke,
And in wild earnest - cuts down at one stroke
The measure of the stature of our Lord,
To this unscriptural pigmy! nor invoke
A frail young saint, in lieu of God the Word!



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