The South Transept: The Epistle and Gospel XXVI

Church of my country, unto thee is lent
More than e'en Nature hath in ways of love;
A vine, that spreads abroad a living tent
Of shelter, shade, and food, — a rocky cove, —
The eye maternal of the gentle dove, —
The swan's soft wing spread o'er her snowy throng, —
The gaze of the stern eagle fix'd above, —
The doe's retiring step, that with her young
Bounds from the gazer's eye the branching woods among.