The Death of Edward

Here Edward king,
of Angles lord,
sent his stedfast
soul to Christ.
In the kingdom of God
a holy spirit!
He in the world here
abode awhile,
in the kingly throng
of council sage.
Four and twenty
winters wielding
the sceptre freely,
wealth he dispensed.
In the tide of health,
the youthful monarch,
offspring of Ethelred!
ruled well his subjects;
the Welsh and the Scots,
and the Britons also,
Angles and Saxons,—
relations of old.
So apprehend
the first in rank,
that to Edward all
the noble king
were firmly held
high-seated men.
Blithe-minded aye
was the harmless king;
though he long ere,
of land bereft,
abode in exile
wide on the earth;
when Knute o'ercame
the kin of Ethelred,
and the Danes wielded
the dear kingdom
of Engle-land.
Eight and twenty
winters' rounds
they wealth dispensed.
Then came forth
free in his chambers,
in royal array,
good, pure, and mild,
Edward the noble;
by his country defended—
by land and people.
Until suddenly came
the bitter Death,
and this king so dear
snatched from the earth.
Angels carried
his soul sincere
into the light of heaven.
But the prudent king
had settled the realm
on high-born men—
on Harold himself,
the noble earl;
who in every season
faithfully heard
and obeyed his lord,
in word and deed;
nor gave to any
what might be wanted
by the nation's king.