The Vaudois

  BUT whence came they who for the Saviour Lord
  Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach?--
  Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach
  In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word,
  Their fugitive Progenitors explored
  Subalpine vales, in quest of safe retreats
  Where that pure Church survives, though summer heats
  Open a passage to the Romish sword,
  Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown,
  And fruitage gathered from the chestnut wood, 
  Nourish the sufferers then; and mists, that brood
  O'er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrown,
  Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts
  Aliens, is God's good winter for their haunts.