I am no pilgrim unto Becket's shrine,

To kneel with fervour on his knee-worn grave,

And with my tears his sainted ashes lave,

Yet feel devotion rise no less divine—

As rapt I gaze from Harbledown's decline

And view the rev'rend temple where was shed

That pamper'd prelate's blood—his marble bed

Midst pillar'd pomp, where rainbow windows shine;

Where bent the [1]anointed of a nation's throne

And brooked the lashes of the church's ire;