ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
XXXIX. CHURCH TO BE ERECTED
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
BE this the chosen site; the virgin sod, Moistened from age to age by dewy eve, Shall disappear, and grateful earth receive The corner-stone from hands that build to God. Yon reverend hawthorns, hardened to the rod Of winter storms, yet budding cheerfully; Those forest oaks of Druid memory, Shall long survive, to shelter the Abode Of genuine Faith. Where, haply, ‘mid this band Of daisies, shepherds sate of yore and wove 10 May-garlands, there let the holy altar stand For kneeling adoration;–while–above, Broods, visibly portrayed, the mystic Dove, That shall protect from blasphemy the Land.