a.d. 1087.]
Panygeric on Berengar.
313
Whose rank preserv'd his honours gain'd,
Preferr'd the poor to rich: maintain'd
The sternest justice. Wealth's wide power
Ne'er gave to sloth, or waste, an hour,
Nor could repeated honours, high.
Seduce him from humility;
Who ne'er on money set his mind,
But griev'd he could no object find
Where he might give: and help'd the poor
Till poverty assail'd his door.
His life by nature's laws to guide.
His mind from vice, his lips from pride.
Still was his care: to false, the true
Prefer, and nothing senseless do:
Evil to none, but good impart.
And banish lucre, hand and heart.
Whose dress was coarse, and temperance just
Awaited appetite's keen gust:
Was chastity's perpetual guest,
Nor let rank lust disturb his rest.
When nature form'd him, "See," said she,
"While others fade, one born for me."
Ere justice sought her place of rest
On high, he lock'd her in his breast.
A saint from boyhood, whose great name
Surpasses his exceeding fame,
Which, though the wide world it may fill,
Shall never reach his merit still.
Pious and grave, so humble yet,
That envy ne'er could him beset;
For envy weeps, whom still before
She hated, prone now to adore;
First for his life, but now his fate
She moans, laments his frail estate.
Man truly wise and truly blest!
Thy soul and body both at rest,
May I, when dead, abide with you,
And share the self-same portion too.
Preferr'd the poor to rich: maintain'd
The sternest justice. Wealth's wide power
Ne'er gave to sloth, or waste, an hour,
Nor could repeated honours, high.
Seduce him from humility;
Who ne'er on money set his mind,
But griev'd he could no object find
Where he might give: and help'd the poor
Till poverty assail'd his door.
His life by nature's laws to guide.
His mind from vice, his lips from pride.
Still was his care: to false, the true
Prefer, and nothing senseless do:
Evil to none, but good impart.
And banish lucre, hand and heart.
Whose dress was coarse, and temperance just
Awaited appetite's keen gust:
Was chastity's perpetual guest,
Nor let rank lust disturb his rest.
When nature form'd him, "See," said she,
"While others fade, one born for me."
Ere justice sought her place of rest
On high, he lock'd her in his breast.
A saint from boyhood, whose great name
Surpasses his exceeding fame,
Which, though the wide world it may fill,
Shall never reach his merit still.
Pious and grave, so humble yet,
That envy ne'er could him beset;
For envy weeps, whom still before
She hated, prone now to adore;
First for his life, but now his fate
She moans, laments his frail estate.
Man truly wise and truly blest!
Thy soul and body both at rest,
May I, when dead, abide with you,
And share the self-same portion too.
You may perceive in these verses, that the bishop exceeded the just measure of praise; but eloquence is apt to recommend itself in such wise; thus a brilliant style proceeds in graceful strain; thus
"Bewitching eloquence sheds purple flowers."
But though Berengar himself changed his sentiments, yet was he unable to convert all whom he had infected throughout the world; "so dreadful a thing it is to seduce others from what is right, either by example or by word; as, per-
