Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS: PART 3: 39. CHURCH TO BE ERECTED (1) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poet Analysis

First Line: BE THIS THE CHOSEN SITE; THE VIRGIN SOIL
Last Line: THAT SHALL PROTECT FROM BLASPHEMY THE LAND.
Subject(s): CHURCHES; CATHEDRALS;

BE this the chosen site; the virgin sod,
Moistened from age to age by dewy eve,
Shall disappear, and grateful earth receive
The corner-stone from hands that build to God.
Yon reverend hawthorns, hardened to the rod
Of winter storms, yet budding cheerfully;
Those forest oaks of Druid memory,
Shall long survive, to shelter the Abode
Of genuine Faith. Where, haply, 'mid this band
Of daisies, shepherds sate of yore and wove
May-garlands, there let the holy altar stand
For kneeling adoration; -- while -- above,
Broods, visibly portrayed, the mystic Dove,
That shall protect from blasphemy the Land.




Home: PoetryExplorer.net