What eager crowds to greet thy glad return
Within the temple’s sacred precincts throng;
Each face looks glad, and ev’ry grateful tongue
Declares the joys which in each bosom burn:
Thou com’st — at once the church is hush’d and still,
Nought but thy firm, and deep ton’d voice is heard,
Teaching mild Christian love — its ev’ry word
To reason’s guidance bends the stubborn will
And draws the veil from pleasure’s dangerous snare.
Conviction spreads a general light — all feel
A holy flame, a pure religious zeal,
And all, with one accord, pour forth a prayer,
A righteous prayer, and glowing from the heart
That they and thou, good man, no more may part.
Philo-Clerico
Greenwich