STANZA V.
His flock no more,—with strifes now sorely riven.
The opinions for which Williams was banished, were but the beginning of schism in the Massachusetts churches, and his banishment but the commencement of persecution. Many members of the church of Salem still adhered to him, and finally followed him to Providence.
STANZA XXI.
O'er yonder distant brow Smokes in the vale Neponset's peopled town.
Neponset is the name of a river in Massachusetts. On the banks of this river there seem to have been several Indian towns or villages, at the time of Williams' banishment. STANZA LVII. And by the lock he held a trunkless head.
"Timequassin, to cut off, or behead, which they are most skillful to do in fight."—Williams' Key.
CANTO EIGHTH.
STANZA XVI.
Who cannot see,
That a dark cloud o'er our New England lowers?
The tender conscience struggles to be free—
The tyrant struggles, and retains his power.
Williams seems to have had a strong presentiment that a season of persecution was approaching, and often expressed a desire that his plantation might be a shelter for persons distressed for conscience.
