CHURCH TO BE ERECTED

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

May-garlands, there letthe holy altar stand

For kneeling adoration;— while — above,

Broods, visibly portrayed, the mystic Dove,

That shall protect from blasphemy the Land.