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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
429
XXXII. ST. GREGORY THE GREAT AND CHARLEMAGNE.
1.
Gregory! To thee her Faith our England owes;But ere to England thine Augustine sailed
Rome had in thee her secular ruler hailed:
Freely her bishop for her prince she chose.
Two ages passed, then Charlemagne arose:
Crowned by Pope Leo 'mid his barons mailed
He swore to shield thenceforth God's Church assailed
By force or fraud. Unlike these days to those!
The family of Kings have wrought a wrong
First on their kingdoms' honour, next their own:
What wrong? The Sire of Kings lay late o'erthrown
By hand usurping and the lying tongue;
Kings sat and kept the clothes of that wild throng:
On Kings the loss shall fall—but not on Kings alone.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |