Eight Sunday After Trinity

John Keble 1792 (Fairford) – 1866 (Bournemouth)



Prophet of God, arise and take
With thee the words of wrath divine,
  The scourge of Heaven, to shake
  O'er yon apostate shrine.

Where Angels down the lucid stair
Came hovering to our sainted sires
  Now, in the twilight, glare
  The heathen's wizard fires.

Go, with thy voice the altar rend,
Scatter the ashes, be the arm,
  That idols would befriend,
  Shrunk at thy withering charm.

Then turn thee, for thy time is short,
But trace not o'er the former way,
  Lest idol pleasures court
  Thy heedless soul astray.

Thou know'st how hard to hurry by,
Where on the lonely woodland road
  Beneath the moonlight sky
  The festal warblings flowed;

Where maidens to the Queen of Heaven
Wove the gay dance round oak or palm,
  Or breathed their vows at even
  In hymns as soft as balm.

Or thee, perchance, a darker spell
Enthralls:  the smooth stones of the flood,
  By mountain grot or fell,
  Pollute with infant's blood;

The giant altar on the rock,
The cavern whence the timbrel's call
  Affrights the wandering flock:-
  Thou long'st to search them all.

Trust not the dangerous path again -
O forward step and lingering will!
  O loved and warned in vain!
  And wilt thou perish still?

Thy message given, thine home in sight,
To the forbidden feast return?
  Yield to the false delight
  Thy better soul could spurn?

Alas, my brother! round thy tomb
In sorrow kneeling, and in fear,
  We read the Pastor's doom
  Who speaks and will not hear.

The grey-haired saint may fail at last,
The surest guide a wanderer prove;
  Death only binds us fast
  To the bright shore of love.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:25 min read
26

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CXCX DEDE DFDF GDGD XHXH IDID JKJK XLXL DMDM NXNX DXDX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,536
Words 277
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

John Keble

John Keble was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford was named after him. more…

All John Keble poems | John Keble Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem "Eight Sunday After Trinity" with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Eight Sunday After Trinity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/23560/eight-sunday-after-trinity>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    12
    days
    20
    hours
    22
    minutes

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    What American novelist took the title of his novel from a Robert Burns poem?
    A Thomas Wolfe
    B John Dos Passos
    C Thornton Wilder
    D John Steinbeck