Behold, whiles she before the altar stands,

Hearing the holy priest that to her speakes,

And blesseth her with his two happy hands.

Edmund Spenser (1553-1599): Epithalamion. Line 223.

That no Italian priest

Shall tithe or toll in our dominions.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King John. Act iii. Sc. 1.

The oracles are dumb,

No voice or hideous hum

Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.

Apollo from his shrine

Can no more divine,

With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving.

No nightly trance or breathed spell

Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell.

John Milton (1608-1674): Hymn on Christ's Nativity. Line 173.

A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book v. Line 16.