ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
XXXVI. GENERAL VIEW OF THE TROUBLES OF THE REFORMATION
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
AID, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light, Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust (While we look round) that Heaven’s decrees are just: Which few can hold committed to a fight That shows, ev’n on its better side, the might Of proud Self-will, Rapacity, and Lust, ‘Mid clouds enveloped of polemic dust, Which showers of blood seem rather to incite Than to allay. Anathemas are hurled From both sides; veteran thunders (the brute test 10 Of truth) are met by fulminations new– Tartarean flags are caught at, and unfurled– Friends strike at friends–the flying shall pursue– And Victory sickens, ignorant where to rest!