Lines Rhymed in a Letter Received (by J.H. Reynolds) From Oxford

by John Keats

THE Gothic looks solemn–       
The plain Doric column
Supports an old Bishop and crosier;       
The mouldering arch,       
Shaded o’er by a larch
Stands next door to Wilson the Hosier.       

Vicè– that is, by turns–       
O’er pale faces mourns
The black-tassled trencher and common hat;       
The chantry boy sings,       
The steeple bell rings,
And as for the Chancellor–dominat.       

There are plenty of trees,       
And plenty of ease,
And plenty of fat deer for parsons;       
And when it is venison,       
Short is the benison–
Then each on a leg or thigh fastens.