History & Politics

On a Royal Visit to the Vaults

by Lord Byron 1788–1824

From Epigrams and Jeux d'Esprit

History & Politics

Famed for their civil and domestic quarrels
See heartless Henry lies by headless Charles;
Between them stands another sceptred thing,
It lives, it reigns--"aye, every inch a king."
Charles to his people, Henry to his wife,
In him the double tyrant starts to life:
Justice and Death have mixed their dust in vain.
The royal Vampires join and rise again.
What now can tombs avail, since these disgorge
The blood and dirt of both to mould a George!

✦ ✦ ✦

[Or Caesar's Discovery of C.i. And H. 8. In Ye Same Vault.]

MLA

Byron, George Gordon, Lord. “On a Royal Visit to the Vaults.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/byron/222/.

Chicago

Byron, George Gordon, Lord. “On a Royal Visit to the Vaults.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/byron/222/.

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