# Roslin and Hawthornden explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr..

## What happens

The poem contrasts the man-made grandeur of Roslin Chapel with the natural, living temple of Hawthornden Glen, celebrating the divine beauty found in nature and the sacred history of the covenanters who worshipped there.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Divine Beauty

The poem exalts the natural glen as a temple more divine than the man-made chapel, with living music and vine-clad pillars.

### Spiritual Peace and Rest

The speaker finds greater spiritual solace in the quiet glen than in the storied chapel, emphasizing peace in nature.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who expresses personal preference for the natural glen over the crafted chapel.

## Key lines

> Fair Roslin Chapel, how divine / The art that reared thy costly shrine!

How beautiful and sacred is Roslin Chapel, built with such skill and expense.

_Opens with admiration for the chapel's artistry._

> Yet not within thy storied wall / Would I in adoration fall, / So gladly as within the glen / That leads to lovely Hawthornden.

But I would rather worship in the glen leading to Hawthornden than inside the chapel's decorated walls.

_Expresses preference for natural worship over man-made structures._

> Within the temple of this wood / The martyrs of the covenant stood, / And rolled the psalm, and poured the prayer, / From Nature’s solemn altar-stair.

In this forest temple, the covenant martyrs stood and sang psalms and prayed, using nature as their altar.

_Connects the natural setting to the historical covenanters' worship._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters/roslin-and-hawthornden
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters