ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
XXV. MISSIONS AND TRAVELS
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
NOT sedentary all: there are who roam To scatter seeds of life on barbarous shores; Or quit with zealous step their knee-worn floors To seek the general mart of Christendom; Whence they, like richly-laden merchants, come To their beloved cells:–or shall we say That, like the Red-cross Knight, they urge their way, To lead in memorable triumph home Truth, their immortal Una? Babylon, Learned and wise, hath perished utterly, 10 Nor leaves her Speech one word to aid the sigh That would lament her;–Memphis, Tyre, are gone With all their Arts,–but classic lore glides on By these Religious saved for all posterity.