The First Prince of Wales

" Weep, noble lady, weep no more,
The woman's joy is won :
Fear not ! thy time of grief is o'er,
And thou hast borne a son."

Then ceased the Queen from pain and cry,
And as she sweetly smiled,
The tears stood still within her eye,
The mother saw her child.

" Now bear him to the castle-gate : "
Thus did the King command ;
There, stern and stately all, they wait,
The warriors of the land.

They met — another lord to claim —
And loud their voices rung :
" We will not brook the stranger's name,
Nor serve a Saxon tongue."

" Our king shall breathe a British birth,
And speak with native voice ;
He shall be famous in the earth,
The chieftain of our choice."

Then might you hear the drawbridge fall,
And echoing footsteps nigh :
And hearken ! by yon haughty wall
A low and infant cry,

" God save your Prince ! " King Edward said ;
" Your wayward wish is won :
Behold him from his mother's bed,
My child — my firstborn son ! "

" Here in his own, his native place,
His future feet shall stand,
And rule the children of your race
In language of the land,"

'Twas strange to see ; so sternly smiled
Those warriors grey and grim.
How little thought King Edward's child
Who thus would welcome him !

Nor knew they then how proud the hope
They taught their native vales ;
The sound whole nations lived to own —
" God save the Prince of Wales ! "