Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
Seathwaite Chapel
By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)S
Dread arbitress of mutable respect,
New rites ordaining when the old are wrecked,
Or cease to please the fickle worshipper;
Mother of Love! (that name best suits thee here,)
Mother of Love! for this deep vale, protect
Truth’s holy lamp, pure source of bright effect,
Gifted to purge the vapory atmosphere
That seeks to stifle it;—as in those days
When this low pile a gospel teacher knew,
Whose good works formed an endless retinue;
A pastor such as Chaucer’s verse portrays,
Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew,
And tender Goldsmith crowned with deathless praise!