ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
XXIII. CONTINUED
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
YET many a Novice of the cloistral shade, And many chained by vows, with eager glee The warrant hail, exulting to be free; Like ships before whose keels, full long embayed In polar ice, propitious winds have made Unlooked-for outlet to an open sea, Their liquid world, for bold discovery, In all her quarters temptingly displayed! Hope guides the young; but when the old must pass The threshold, whither shall they turn to find 10 The hospitality–the alms (alas! Alms may be needed) which that House bestowed? Can they, in faith and worship, train the mind To keep this new and questionable road?