 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
XXI. THE FRANCE OF A FUTURE TIME.
Laugh, thou that weep'st; or with thy weeping blendThe glory of that joy which mocks at pain:
Vain was thy pride; thy penance is not vain:
That woe was the beginning, not the end:
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Armies of God t'ward yon ensanguined plain;
And these the Cross and those the Crown sustain:—
Elect of Penitents, thy forehead bend;
Meet thou that crown in hope that springs from love!
Once more true greatness greets thee from above:
At last, while far away the tempests rave,
Forth from the ashes of thy Pagan boast
Leaps thy new life! 'Mid yon celestial host
Thy Clotilde triumphs, and thy Genevieve.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |