XV
PAULINUS
But, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school
Of sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,
Who comes with functions apostolical?
Mark him,[48] of shoulders curved, and stature tall, 5
Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
His prominent feature like an eagle's beak;
A Man whose aspect doth at once appal
And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans
Toward the pure truths[49] this Delegate propounds, 10
Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation,—then convenes
A synod of his Councillors:—give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear![50]
FOOTNOTES:
[48] The person of Paulinus is thus described by Bede, from the memory of an eye-witness:—"Longæ staturæ, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilenta, naso adunco, pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu."—W. W. 1822.
[49] 1832.
Towards the Truths.... 1822.
[50] Paulinus won over Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, to the Christian faith, and baptized him "with his people," A.D. 627. (See The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.)—Ed.
XVI
PERSUASION
"Man's life is like a Sparrow,[51] mighty King!
"That—while at banquet with your Chiefs you sit
"Housed near a blazing fire—is seen to flit
"Safe from the wintry tempest. Fluttering,[52]
"Here did it enter; there, on hasty wing, 5
"Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold;
"But whence it came we know not, nor behold
"Whither it goes. Even such, that transient Thing,
"The human Soul; not utterly unknown
"While in the Body lodged, her warm abode; 10
"But from what world She came, what woe or weal
"On her departure waits, no tongue hath shown;
"This mystery if the Stranger can reveal,
"His be a welcome cordially bestowed!"