“Poor Shepherd of the naked Down, a favoured lot is thine, Far happier lot, dear Boy, than brings full many to this shrine; From body pains and pains of soul thou needest no release, 55 Thy hours as they flow on are spent, if not in joy, in peace. “Then offer up thy heart to God in thankfulness and praise, Give to Him prayers, and many thoughts, in thy most busy days; And in His sight the fragile Cross, on thy small hut, will be Holy as that which long hath crowned the Chapel of this Tree; 60 “Holy as that far seen which crowns the sumptuous Church in Rome Where thousands meet to worship God under a mighty Dome;[237] He sees the bending multitude, He hears the choral rites, Yet not the less, in children’s hymns and lonely prayer, delights. “God for His service needeth not proud work of human skill; 65 They please Him best who labour most to do in peace His will: So let us strive to live, and to our Spirits will be given Such wings as, when our Saviour calls, shall bear us up to heaven.” The Boy no answer made by words, but, so earnest was his look, Sleep fled, and with it fled the dream--recorded in this book, 70 Lest all that passed should melt away in silence from my mind, As visions still more bright have done, and left no trace behind. But oh! that Country-man of thine, whose eye, loved Child, can see A pledge of endless bliss in acts of early piety, In verse, which to thy ear might come, would treat this simple theme, 75 Nor leave untold our happy flight in that adventurous dream.[238] Alas the dream,[239] to thee, poor Boy! to thee from whom it flowed, Was nothing, scarcely can be aught, yet ’twas[240] bounteously bestowed, If I may dare to cherish hope that gentle eyes will read Not loth, and listening Little-ones, heart-touched, their fancies feed. 80 [227] 1845. The title in 1842 was “SEQUEL TO THE NORMAN BOY.” [228] The Abbey Church of St. Denis, to the north of Paris,--one of the finest specimens of French Gothic,--was the burial-place of the French Kings for many generations.--ED. [229] In Paris.--ED. [230] The Church of St. Ouen, in Rouen, is the most perfect edifice of its kind in Europe.--ED. [231] “Among ancient Trees there are few, I believe, at least in France, so worthy of attention as an Oak which may be seen in the ‘Pays de Caux,’ about a league from Yvetot, close to the church, and in the burial-ground of Allonville. The height of this Tree does not answer to its girth; the trunk, from the roots to the summit, forms a complete cone; and the inside of this cone is hollow throughout the whole of its height.