OQUEEN, awake to thy renown, Require what 'tis our wealth to give, And comprehend and wear the crown Of thy despised prerogative! I, who in manhood's name at length With glad songs come to abdicate The gross regality of strength, Must yet in this thy praise abate, That, through thine erring humbleness And disregard of thy degree, Mainly, has man been so much less Than fits his fellowship with thee. High thoughts had shaped the foolish brow, The coward had grasp'd the hero's sword, The vilest had been great, hadst thou, Just to thyself, been worth's reward. But lofty honours undersold Seller and buyer both disgrace; And favours that make folly bold Banish the light from virtue's face. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CORIDON'S SONG (IN ISAAK WALTON'S 'COMPLEAT ANGLER') by JOHN CHALKHILL THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL by PUBLIUS AELIUS HADRIANUS ETUDE REALISTE by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE THE MENU by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH A LAY OF ST. DUNSTAN by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE COMBAT, BETWEENE CONSCIENCE AND COVETOUSNESSE by RICHARD BARNFIELD |