90
Years passed ; full many a wharf had bowed before the
tyrant flood,
And still unharmed by wind or wave that sanctuary stood.
Yet, ah ! such changes time had wrought among the shifting
downs,
That in a foe till now unfeared a sure destruction frowns.
In vain with tireless zeal they strive to avert the stern decree,
Onward the mighty sandwave rolls resistless as the sea.
Slowly it creepeth up the walls, it gathers round the door,
Sifts through the casements' guarded seams, and thickly
strews the floor.
Long did they clear, from week to week, the swelling heaps
away,
Meeting within those hallowed courts each blessed sabbath
day.
But ever higher rose the sand, defying human strength ;
It reached the seats, the pastor's desk, and choked the door
at length.
* For an account of a church buried in this way by the sand, see Ap-
pendix VIII.
