113. Apostasy

FRANCE! I will think of thee as what thou wast,
When Poictiers show'd her zeal for the true — creed;
Or in that age, when Holy Truth, though cast
On a rank soil, yet was a thriving seed,
Thy schools within, from neighbouring countries — chased;
E'en of thy pagan day I bear to read,
Thy Martyrs sanctified the guilty host,
The Sons of blessèd John, rear'd on a western — coast.

I dare not think of thee as what thou art,
Lest thoughts too deep for man should trouble — me.
It is not safe to place the mind and heart
On brink of evil, or its flames to see,
Lest they should dizzy, or some taint impart,
Or to our sin a fascination be.
And so in silence I will now proclaim
Hate of thy present self, and scarce will sound thy name ¹.

Off the French coast.
June 26, 1833.