Ecclesiastical Sonnets: 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, of shoulders curved, and stature tall,
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
Towards the Truths this Delegate propounds,—
Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation,—then convenes
A synod of his Counsellors,—give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear!