Ten lines from Longfellow

Two days ago I perpetrated a bad pun on the name Torquemada in the course of a brief comment on Schama's latest fat book of macro-history.

Let my penance for the pun be a few lines by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. TORQUEMADA was the title of one of his poems, part of his TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN. The title character is eager to persuade the old Hidalgo to give evidence that his daughters are heretics.

He heard in silence the Hidalgo's tale,
Then answered in a voice that made him quail:
'Son of the Church! when Abraham of old
To sacrifice his only son was told,
He did not pause to parley nor protest,
But hastened to obey the Lord's behest,
In him it was accounted righteousness
The Holy Church expects of thee no less!'

A sacred frenzy seized the father's brain,
And Mercy from that hour implored in vain...."

Go to Longfellow to read the rest, if you dare. Or simply take the above as suitable Sunday fare.

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