Poetry -
Scarlet Pimpernels in a Sussex Cornfield
BEHOLD a solemn conclave We In courts pontifical must be—
Your Eminences, pardon us For breaking on your presence thus !
We live outside the pale, and so Are not of the elect who know Red-hatted Cardinals from Rome Have made this Sussex field their home.
But men of Martin Luther's day Would have, I think, a lot to say If they came back to earth and found You growing here on English ground.
They might suspect you of desires That used to lead to racks and fires ; And, not forgetting, still condemn What Holy Church once did to them.
They might have fears that you again May call inquisitors from Spain To torture us, and make us own Allegiance to the Papal Throne.
They might, by their remembrance led, Confuse the living with the dead, And pull you up, because of crimes Priests did in Reformation times I
CHARLES DAIMON.
Previous page
