ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
XXVI. APOLOGY
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
NOT utterly unworthy to endure Was the supremacy of crafty Rome; Age after age to the arch of Christendom Aerial keystone haughtily secure; Supremacy from Heaven transmitted pure, As many hold; and, therefore, to the tomb Pass, some through fire–and by the scaffold some– Like saintly Fisher, and unbending More. “Lightly for both the bosom’s lord did sit “Upon his throne;” unsoftened, undismayed 10 By aught that mingled with the tragic scene Of pity or fear: and More’s gay genius played With the inoffensive sword of native wit, Than the bare axe more luminous and keen.