Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Morwenstow

The Vine

By Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875)

HEARKEN! there is in old Morwenna’s shrine,

A lonely sanctuary of the Saxon’s days,

Reared by the Severn sea for prayer and praise,

Amid the carved work of the roof, a vine:

Its root is where the eastern sunbeams fall,

First in the chancel, then along the wall;

Slowly it travels on, a leafy line,

With here and there a cluster, and anon

More and more grapes, until the growth hath gone

Through arch and aisle. Hearken! and heed the sign.

See at the altar side the steadfast root,

Mark well the branches, count the summer fruit:

So let a meek and faithful heart be thine,

And gather from that tree a parable divine.