88. The Good Samaritan

Oh that thy creed were sound! ¹
For thou dost soothe the heart, thou Church of Rome,
By thy unwearied watch and varied round
Of service, in thy Saviour's holy home.
I cannot walk the city's sultry streets,
But the wide porch invites to still retreats,
Where passion's thirst is calm'd, and care's un- thankful gloom.

There, on a foreign shore,
The home-sick solitary finds a friend:
Thoughts, prison'd long for lack of speech, out- pour
Their tears; and doubts in resignation end.
I almost fainted from the long delay
That tangles me within this languid bay,
When comes a foe, my wounds with oil and wine to tend.

Palermo.
June 13, 1833.