gladius_veritatis
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THE BALLAD OF RIALTO RECTORY
A reply with more matter, less art to Bishop Dolan’s drôle doggerel—and with apologies to Oscar Wilde and his immortal Ballad of Reading Gaol (jail).
Wilde was incarcerated in HMP Reading, in Reading, Berkshire, after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison (Wikipedia).
He wore his amaranth soutane
(For shame hath such a hue):
Yea, shame had stained his small soul dark
As he crept to claim his due
For having wrecked the church we loved
To aid a wicked few.
I walked with other souls in pain
Along the Rialto;.
I asked wherefore a Prelate wrought
A thing so base and low,
When a voice above me thundered loud,
‘That fakir’s got to go!”
Bad priests have killed the church we love:
This fact we cannot hide.
They did it with their blinded eye,
They did it with their o’er-blown pride:
The wolf hath done it by rapine;
The Magus feigned to guide.
Alas! it is a shameful act
To sully our good priest
With charges that indeed apply
To Bishop and Artiste.
The good lambs here know well and clear
By whom they have been fleeced.
So, too, it is a dreadful deed
To scorn the pedigree
Of one who labored long and hard
In the Academy:
For unlike Dolan and his ilk
He has a real degree.
The Prelate set our shaking youth
Beneath a cruel hand
That has wielded wood to no good:
They cannot understand
The ire that drives the Fury’s rage;
They plead a countermand.
Yet never a clement word comes forth
From Dolan’s tim’rous lips:
“Let tyrant flail! Let younglings wail!!
Cries he to cracks of whips.
“Let’s focus, too, their minds, to boot,”
His partner grimly quips.
Realto Rect’ry, West Chester —
A manse of rascaldom —
Therein do dwell two wayward clerks
Whose time to leave is come.
The faithful do not visit there:
They’ve left ad libitum.
Lenvoy
Pray stay thy poetaster’s wit:
Old Bishop, cease thy rhymes!
Pack up thy baggage and thy priest,
Be off for better times!
Enjoy fey nights in Santa Fe
Or Bangkok’s torrid climes.
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+ Vincit veritas +
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| Posted Nov 26, 2009, 4:10 pm |
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gladius_veritatis
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FYI, FWIW, the poem above is not my work. Godspeed to all on this special day set aside by our fathers for the recalling of our many reasons to be grateful, to God and those who have helped us in any way.
To those, whether friend or foe, who have helped me become the man I am: Thank you, and may God reward you.
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+ Vincit veritas +
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| Posted Nov 26, 2009, 4:16 pm |
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