Yes! we confess it! ‘mong the sons of Fate,
Earth’s great ones, thou art great!
As that tall peak which from her silver cone
Of maiden snow unstain’d
All but the bravest scares, and reigns alone
In glacier isolation: Thus wert thou,
With that pale steadfast brow,
Gaunt aquiline: Thy whole life one labouring breath,
Yet the strong soul untamed;
France bridled, England saved, thy task ere death!
–O day of triumph, when thy bloodless host
From Devon’s russet coast
Through the fair capital of the garden-West,
And that, whose gracious spire
Like childhood’s prayer springs heaven-ward unrepress’d,
To Thames march’d legion-like, and at their tread
The sullen despot fled,
And Law and Freedom fair,–so late restored,
And to so-perilous life,
While Stuart craft replaced the Usurper’s sword,–
Broke forth, as sunshine from the breaking sky,
When vernal storm-wings fly!
That day was thine, great Chief, from sea to sea:
The whole land’s welcome seem’d
The welcome of one man! a realm by thee
Deliver’d!–But the crowning hour of fame,
The zenith of a name
Is ours once only: and he, too just, too stern,
Too little Englishman,
A nation’s gratitude did not care to earn,
On wider aims, not worthier, set:–A soul
Immured in self-control;
Saving the thankless in their own despite:–
Then turning with a gasp
Of joy, to his own land by native right;
Changing the Hall of Rufus and the Keep
Of Windsor’s terraced steep
For Guelderland horizons, silvery-blue;
The green deer-twinkling glades,
And long, long, avenues of the stately Loo.
(Francis Turner Palgrave)
More Poetry from Francis Turner Palgrave:
Francis Turner Palgrave Poems based on Topics: Life, Death & Dying, England, Man, Fairness, Soul, Name, Sons, Fate & Destiny, Joy & Excitement, Fame- The Return Of Law (Francis Turner Palgrave Poems)
- Grocyn At Oxford (Francis Turner Palgrave Poems)
- Caesar To Egbert (Francis Turner Palgrave Poems)
- Charles Edward At Rome (Francis Turner Palgrave Poems)
- The Rejoicing Of The Land (Francis Turner Palgrave Poems)
- Hastings (Francis Turner Palgrave Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Life Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Soul Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Fairness Poems, Name Poems, Fate & Destiny Poems, Sons Poems, Fame Poems, Silver PoemsBased on Keywords: scares, windsor, stuart, immured, rufus, bridled, unstain, terraced, loo, usurper, heaven-ward
- The Vision Of Piers Plowman - Part 14 (William Langland Poems)
- Trivia ; or, the Art of Walking the Streets of London : Book III (John Gay Poems)
- Hermann And Dorothea - IX. Urania (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)
- Christ's Triumph after Death : Canto IV. Christ's Victory and Triumph (Giles Fletcher Jr Poems)
- Childhood (Henry Kirke White Poems)