History & Politics
To 1862 (V): A Queen's Speech
From The Poetical Works, ed. John Nichol (1875), vol. 2
'Since it is War, my England, and nor I
On you nor you on me have drawn down one
Drop of this bloody guilt, God's Will be done,
Here upon earth in woe, in bliss on high!
Peace is but mortal and to live must die,
And, like that other creature of the sun,
Must die in fire. Therefore, my English, on!
And burn it young again with victory!
For me, in all your joys I have been first
And in this woe my place I still shall keep,
I am the earliest widow that must weep,
My children the first orphans. The divine
Event of all God knows: but come the worst
It cannot leave your homes more dark than mine.'
Cite this poem
MLA
Dobell, Sydney. “To 1862 (V): A Queen's Speech.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/dobell/93/.
Chicago
Dobell, Sydney. “To 1862 (V): A Queen's Speech.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/dobell/93/.
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