Read "The Church-Builder" by Thomas Hardy online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I. THE church flings forth a battled shade / Over the moon-blanched sward; / The church; my gift; whereto I paid / My all in hand and hoard: / Lavished my gains / With stintless pains / To glorify the Lord.
II. I squared the broad foundations in / Of ashlared masonry; / I moulded mullions thick and thin, / Hewed fillet and ogee; / I circleted / Each sculptured head / With nimb and canopy.