ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
VIII. TEMPTATIONS FROM ROMAN REFINEMENTS
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
WATCH, and be firm! for, soul-subduing vice, Heart-killing luxury, on your steps await. Fair houses, baths, and banquets delicate, And temples flashing, bright as polar ice, Their radiance through the woods–may yet suffice To sap your hardy virtue, and abate Your love of Him upon whose forehead sate The crown of thorns; whose life-blood flowed, the price Of your redemption. Shun the insidious arts That Rome provides, less dreading from her frown 10 Than from her wily praise, her peaceful gown, Language, and letters;–these, though fondly viewed As humanising graces, are but parts And instruments of deadliest servitude!