“Down With The Church”

2 May 1831

First published in The Poetical Works of Robert Stephen Hawker in 1879
 

Born in 1803, Robert Stephen Hawker is most well known as the vicar of Morwenstow, a small village in Cornwall. He served in that position for forty years, only stepping down when his health began deteriorating, four months before his death.

Before he was a the vicar of Morwenstow, he was a student and aspiring poet. His first volume of poetry was published in 1821. He attended Oxford from 1823-1828. After graduating, he continued writing poetry, and was made a deacon in 1829, and in 1831 was ordained a priest. He became vicar at Morwenstow in 1835.

See Dustin Powell's entry on Hawker's poem "Morwenna Statio" for more information on Hawker's time in Morwenstow.

“Down With The Church” was written in the mysterious period between his graduation and his ministry in Morwenstow. The poem is “an electioneering cry”, written during the campaign of Sir Richard Vyvyan and Sir Charles Lemon, who were both representatives for Cornwall in parliament. The two were standing in the interest of the Church and Conservatives. Their opposition, the Dissenters, were against the established church, and their rallying cry was “Down with the Church.” It was in response to this conflict that hawker wrote this poem.

It is a lyrical piece that seems to be a rallying cry for the people to reelect Sir Richard Vyvyan and Sir Charles Lemon. As a religious man and a deacon of the Church, he supported these men who supported Church authority and interest. His response to the political conflict was to write a poem.

This piece provides a vicar’s perspective on a political situation during a time where the political and religious climate was changing. Hawker is a fascinating person, being a vicar in Morwenstow for 40 years. A man who is a vicar and a poet is a unique man. The piece is not a critique of the church, as the title suggests, nor is it a very strong defense of the church. It is almost more of a call to maintain the status quo. He is worried about what a government that did not support the church would look like, writing melancholy lines about ruined church towers and abandoned cemeteries. The second half of the poem becomes a very patriotic urge to support Vyvyan, and his cry of, “Our Church and King.” It is an unusual and intriguing poem that gives insight into the politics and religion of the small villages of Cornwall.

“Down With The Church”

An Electioneering Cry.

An electioneering song, written when Sir R. Vyvyan and Sir C. Lemon were standing for East Cornwall.
 

Shall the grey tower in ruin spread?

And must the furrow hold your dead?

Our best-belovèd are at rest,

Their cold hands folded on their breast,—

Spring’s placid flowers their ashes hide,

And we shall slumber at their side.

Shall the grey tower in ruin bow?

Must the babe die with nameless brow?

Or common hands in mocking fling

The unbless’d waters of the spring?

Where will the dove-like spirit rest

When yon old Church shall close her breast?

Shall the grey tower in silence stand

When the heart thrills within the hand,

And beauty’s lip to youth hath given

The vow on Earth that links for Heaven?

Shall no glad peal from churchyard grey

Cheer the young matron’s homeward way?

Yes! by the heart of England’s pride

Still beating on the mountain side!

Yes! by the spirit of former men,

That slumbers in each Cornish glen!

The cry of triumph yet shall ring—

The Vyvyan-cry—“Our Church and King!”

Fair dame! the babe that climbs thy knee

Would lift its lisping voice to thee.

Maiden! with fond one at thy side—

Tell! by the holy name of Bride!

Mourner! by that beneath the pall!—

Shall the grey tower in ruin fall?

No! though the sweat of faction reek

On each reformer’s clammy cheek,

No! though the voice of discord rend

The stately towers that none shall bend,

No! while the Cornish cry can ring—

The Vyvyan-cry—“Our Church and King!”

Bibliography

Baring-Gould, Sabine. The Vicar of Morwenstow, A Life of Robert Stephen Hawker. London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876.

Hawker, Robert Stephen. The Poetical Works of Robert Stephen Hawker. Edited by John G. Godwin. London: C. Kegan Paul & co., 1879.

http://www.robertstephenhawker.co.uk/