These coins that jostle on my hand do own
No single image: each name here and date
Denoting in man’s consciousness and state
New change. In some, the face is clearly known,-
In others marred. The badge of that old throne
Of Kings is on the obverse; or this sign
Which says, “I France am all-lo, I am mine!”
Or else the Eagle that dared soar alone.
Even as these coins, so are these lives and years
Mixed and bewildered; yet hath each of them
No less its part in what is come to be
For France. Empire, Republic, Monarchy,-
Each clamours or keeps silence in her name,
And lives within the pulse that now is hers.
(Dante Gabriel Rossetti)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Faces Poems, Name Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Change Poems, Monarchy Poems, Democracy PoemsBased on Keywords: clamours, jostle, denoting, obverse