Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.
By Samuel Daniel (15621619)Faith and Form
SACRED Religion, mother of form and fear, | |
How gorgeously sometime dost thou sit decked, | |
What pompous vestures do we make thee wear, | |
What stately piles we prodigal erect; | |
How sweet perfumed thou art, how shining clear, | 5 |
How solemnly observed, with what respect! | |
Another time all plain, all quite threadbare, | |
Thou must have all within, and nought without; | |
Sit poorly, without light, disrobed; no care | |
Of outward grace, t’amuse the poor devout; | 10 |
Powerless, unfollowed, scarcely men can spare | |
The necessary rites to set thee out. | |