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Ecclesiastical Sonnets - Part III. - XI - Sacheverel

By William Wordsworth

Topics: classic

A sudden conflict rises from the swell Of a proud slavery met by tenets strained In Liberty's behalf. Fears, true or feigned, Spread through all ranks; and lo! the Sentinel Who loudest rang his pulpit 'larum bell, Stands at the Bar, absolved by female eyes Mingling their glances with grave flatteries Lavished on 'Him', that England may rebel Against her ancient virtue. high and low, Watchwords of Party, on all tongues are rife; As if a Church, though sprung from heaven, must owe To opposites and fierce extremes her life, Not to the golden mean, and quiet flow Of truths that soften hatred, temper strife.

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"A sudden conflict rises from the swell..."

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Author:William Wordsworth

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"A sudden conflict rises from the swell..." by William Wordsworth

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William Wordsworth

About William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) was an English Romantic poet who launched the movement with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in "Lyrical Ballads" (1798). His poems—including "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and "Tintern Abbey"—championed nature, memory, and the language of common speech.

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