CISTERTIAN MONASTERY

By William Wordsworth

“Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall,

More promptly rises, walks with stricter heed,

More safely rests, dies happier, is freed

Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal

A brighter crown. " — On yon Cistertian wall

That confident assurance may be read;

And, to like shelter, from the world have fled

Increasing multitudes. The potent call

Doubtless shall cheat full oft the heart's desires:

Yet, while the rugged Age on pliant knee

Vows to rapt Fancy humble fealty,

A gentler life spreads round the holy spires;

Where'er they rise, the sylvan waste retires,

And aery harvests crown the fertile lea.