Fourteen Lines for St. Edmund Campion
I have no more to say then to recommend your
case and mine to Almightie God, the Searcher of Hearts,
who send us His grace, and set us at accord before the
day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in
Heaven, when all injuries shall be forgotten.
St. Edmund Campion
For St. Edmund Campion (1540-1581)
They would not let you speak. Sometimes the truth
Must hide; more often it is hid. The right's
Constrained by circuмstance: soft hands with ruth
Sequester it, in priest holes where no light
Wrestles with light, the dark uncomprehending,
Until its weathered hands can grab and seize
Where ruthlessness has leave for its offending,
Past conscience, in the room of Little Ease.
They would not let you speak. Your speaking then
Had opened doors that they must keep well closed:
No answer is inside. Some hiding men
Dwell in a world where question dies, unposed.
But your repose is sweet, where word meets would,
For you died old enough, when you died good. [code]