Ecclesiastical Sonnets: XXX. Canute

A pleasant music floats along the Mere,
From Monks in Ely chaunting service high,
Whileas Canùte the King is rowing by:
“My Oarsmen,” quoth the mighty King, “draw near,
“That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!”
He listen’d (all past conquests and all schemes
Of future vanishing like empty dreams)
Heart-touch’d, and haply not without a tear.
The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir was still,
While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along,
Gives to that rapture a memorial Rhyme.
O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime
And rudest age are subject to the thrill
Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.