Ah, when the Body,[58] round which in love we clung, Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail? Is tender pity then of no avail? Are intercessions of the fervent tongue A waste of hope?--From this sad source have sprung Rites that console the Spirit, under grief 6 Which ill can brook more rational relief: Hence, prayers are shaped amiss, and dirges sung For Souls[59] whose doom is fixed! The way is smooth For Power that travels with the human heart: 10 Confession ministers the pang to soothe In him who at the ghost of guilt doth start. Ye holy Men, so earnest in your care, Of your own mighty instruments beware! FOOTNOTES: [57] Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds:--"Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis aut monachus adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, et flexa cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici, gaudebant. Verbis quoque horum exhortatonis diligenter auditum praebebant" (Lib. iii. cap. 26.)--W. W. 1822. [58] 1837. ... Frame,.... 1822 [59] 1832. For those ... 1822. XXI[60] SECLUSION Lance, shield, and sword relinquished--at his side A bead-roll, in his hand a claspèd book, Or staff more harmless than a shepherd's crook, The war-worn Chieftain quits the world--to hide His thin autumnal locks where Monks abide 5 In cloistered privacy. But not to dwell In soft repose he comes. Within his cell, Round the decaying trunk of human pride, At morn, and eve, and midnight's silent hour, Do penitential cogitations cling; 10 Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine In grisly folds and strictures serpentine;[61] Yet, while they strangle, a fair growth they bring,[62] For recompense--their own perennial bower. FOOTNOTES: [60] This, and the two following sonnets, were published in _Time's Telescope_, July 2, 1823.--ED. [61] The "ancient elm," with ivy twisting round it "in grisly folds and strictures serpentine," which suggested these lines, grew in Rydal Park, near the path to the upper waterfall.--ED. [62] 1837. ... strangle without mercy, bring 1822. XXII CONTINUED