Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A BALLAD OF CANTERBURY, by EDITH BLAND NESBIT Poet's Biography First Line: Across the grim, gray northern sea Last Line: "has done it unto me!" Alternate Author Name(s): Nesbit, E.; Bland, Mrs. Hubert Subject(s): Canterbury, England | ||||||||
ACROSS the grim, gray northern sea The Danish warships went, Snake-shaped, and manned by mighty men On blood and plunder bent; And they landed on a smiling land -- The garden-land of Kent. They sacked the farms, they spoiled the corn, They set the ricks aflame; They slew the men with axe and sword, They slew the maids with shame; Until, to Canterbury town, Made mad with blood, they came. Archbishop Alphege walked the wall And looked down on the foe. 'Now fly, my lord!' his monks implored, 'While yet a man may go!' 'Shame on you, monks of mine,' he cried, 'To shame your bishop so! 'What, would you have the shepherd flee Like any hireling knave? What, leave my church, my poor -- God's poor, To a dark and prayerless grave? No! by the body of my Lord, My skin I will not save!' And when men heard his true, strong word, They bore them as men should, For twenty nights and twenty days The foemen they withstood, And, day and night, shone tapers bright, And incense veiled the rood. The warriors manned the walls without, The monks prayed on within, Till Satan, wroth to see how prayer And valour fared to win, Whispered a traitor, who stole out And let the foemen in. Then through the quiet church there ran A sudden breath of fear; The monks made haste to bar the door, And hide the golden gear; And to their lord once more they cried, 'Hide, hide! the foe is here!' Through all the church's windows showed The sudden laugh of flame; Along the street went trampling feet, And through the smoke there came The voice of women, calling shrill Upon the Saviour's name. And 'Hide! oh, hide!' the monks all cried, 'Nor meet such foes as these!' 'Be still,' he said, 'hide if ye will, Live on, and take your ease! By my Lord's death, my latest breath, Like His, shall speak of peace!' He strode along the dusky aisle, And flung the church doors wide; Bright armour shone, and blazing homes Lit up the world outside, And in the streets reeled to and fro A bloody human tide. The mailed barbarians laughed aloud To see the brave blood flow; They trampled on the breast and hair Of girls their swords laid low, And on the points of reeking spears Tossed babies to and fro. Alphege stood forth; his pale face gleamed Against the dark red tide. 'Forbear, your cup of guilt is full! Your sins are red,' he cried; 'Spare these poor sheep, my lambs, for whom The King of Heaven died!' Drunken with blood and lust of fight, Loud laughed Thorkill the Dane. 'Stand thou and see us shear thy sheep Before thy foolish fane! Hear how they weep! They bleat, thy sheep, That thou mayst know their pain!' He stood, and saw his monks all slain; The altar steps ran red; In horrid heaps men lay about, The dying with the dead; And the east brightened, and the sky Grew rosy overhead. Then from the church a tiny puff Of smoke rose 'gainst the sky, Out broke the fire, and flame on flame Leaped palely out on high, Till but the church's walls were left For men to know it by. And when the sweet sun laughed again O'er fields and furrows brown, The brave archbishop hid his eyes, Until the tears dropped down On the charred blackness of the wreck Of Canterbury town. 'Now, Saxon shepherd, send a word Unto thy timid sheep, And bid them greaten up their hearts, And to our feet dare creep, And bring a ransom here which we, Instead of thee, may keep.' Archbishop Alphege stood alone, Bruised, beaten, weary-eyed; Loaded with chains, with aching heart, And wounded in the side; And in his hour of utmost pain Thus to the Dane replied: 'Ye men of blood, my blood shall flow Before this thing shall be; If I be held till ransom come, I never shall be free; For by God's heart, God's poor shall never Be robbed to ransom me!' They flung him in a dungeon dark, They heaped on him fresh chains, They promised him unnumbered ills And unimagined pains; But still he said, 'No English shall Be taxed to profit Danes!' The months passed by; no ransom came; Their threats had almost ceased, When Thorkill held, on Easter-Eve, A great and brutal feast; And they sent and dragged the Christian man Before the pagan beast. Down the great hall, from east to west, The long rough tables ran; They roasted oxen, sheep, and deer, And then the drink began -- At last in all that mighty hall Was not one sober man. 'Twas then they brought the bishop forth Before the drunken throng; And 'Send for ransom!' Thorkill cried, 'You are weak, and we are strong, Or, by the hand of Thor, you die -- We have borne with you too long!' The savage faces of the Danes Leered redly all around; The bones of beasts and empty cups Lay heaped upon the ground, And 'mid the crowd of howling wolves The Christian saint stood bound. He looked in Thorkill's angry eyes And knew what thing should be, Then spake: 'By God, who died to save The poor, and me, and thee, Thou art not strong enough -- God's poor Shall not be taxed for me!' 'Gold! Give us gold, or die!' All round The rising tumult ran. 'I give my life, I give God's word, I give what gifts I can! Bleed Christian sheep for pagan wolves? Find you some other man!' And, as he spake, the whole crowd rose With one fierce shout and yell; They flung at him the bones of beasts, They aimed right strong and well. 'O Christ, O Shepherd, guard Thy sheep!' The bishop cried -- and fell. And so men call him 'Saint,' yet some Deemed this an unearned crown, Since 'twas not for the Church or faith He laid his brave life down; But otherwise men deemed of it In Canterbury town. 'Not for the Church he died,' they said, 'Yet he our saint shall be, Since for Christ's poor he gave his life, So for Christ's self died he. "Who does it to the least of these, Has done it unto Me!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CHOICE by EDITH BLAND NESBIT A GREAT INDUSTRIAL CENTRE by EDITH BLAND NESBIT A LAST APPEAL by EDITH BLAND NESBIT A PARTING by EDITH BLAND NESBIT A PRAYER FOR THE KING'S MAJESTY; 22ND JANUARY, 1901 by EDITH BLAND NESBIT A STAR IN THE EAST; FOR FIRST ART EXHIBITION AT ST. JUDE'S by EDITH BLAND NESBIT A WORD FOR THE FUTURE by EDITH BLAND NESBIT ACCESSION by EDITH BLAND NESBIT AFTER DEATH by EDITH BLAND NESBIT |
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