Classic Poem

One reads in Saint Augustine's masterpiece
About the schools, the gladiatorial shows,
The flail of heresy and faith's repose,
The bondage of the soul and its release;

And suddenly one finds the turmoil cease,
While quietly Saint Ambrose comes and goes
Along the pages, where the story flows
Mellifluously, a shape of calm and peace

A clear and vivid figure none the less,
In gleaming scraps of phrase: a voice not strong;
A swift and silent reader. Then to turn
And find this same Saint Ambrose chide and spurn
Empress and Emperor, take up the wrong
Inflicted, set his face, and force redress!