REFLECTIONS

Grant, that by this unsparing hurricane

Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away,

And goodly fruitage with the mother spray;

‘ Twere madness — wished we, therefore, to detain,

With hands stretched forth inmollified disdain,

The “trumpery” that ascends in bare display —

Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey —

Upwhirled, and flying o'er the ethereal plain

Fast bound for Limbo Lake.And yet not choice

But habit rules the unreflecting herd,

And airy bonds are hardest to disown;

Hence, with the spiritual sovereignty transferred

Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice

Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown.