 | The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman |  |
MONTAGU
Queen Katherine of Arragon
In gray Kimbolton dwelt,
A joyous bride, ere bluff King Hal
At Bullen's footstool knelt.
In gray Kimbolton dwelt,
A joyous bride, ere bluff King Hal
At Bullen's footstool knelt.
Still in her haughty Spanish eyes
Their childhood's lustre shone,
That lit with love two royal hearts,
And won the English throne.
Their childhood's lustre shone,
That lit with love two royal hearts,
And won the English throne.
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From gray Kimbolton's castle-gate
She rode, each summer's day,
And blithely led the greenwood chase
With hawk and hound away.
She rode, each summer's day,
And blithely led the greenwood chase
With hawk and hound away.
And ever handsome Montagu,
Her Master of the Horse,
To guard his mistress kept her pace
O'er heather, turf, and gorse.
Her Master of the Horse,
To guard his mistress kept her pace
O'er heather, turf, and gorse.
O, who so brave as Montagu
To leap the hedges clear!
And who so fleet as he to find
The coverts of the deer!
To leap the hedges clear!
And who so fleet as he to find
The coverts of the deer!
And who so wild as Montagu,
To seek his sovereign's love!
More hopeless than a child, who craves
The brightest star above.
To seek his sovereign's love!
More hopeless than a child, who craves
The brightest star above.
Day after day her presence fed
The fever at his heart;
Yet loyally the young knight scorned
To play a traitor's part.
The fever at his heart;
Yet loyally the young knight scorned
To play a traitor's part.
Only, when at her palfrey's side
He bowed him by command,
Lightening her footfall to the earth,
He pressed her dainty hand;
He bowed him by command,
Lightening her footfall to the earth,
He pressed her dainty hand;
A tender touch, as light as love,
Soft as his heart's desire;
But aye, in Katherine's artless blood,
It woke no answering fire.
Soft as his heart's desire;
But aye, in Katherine's artless blood,
It woke no answering fire.
King Hal to gray Kimbolton came
Erelong, and true love's sign,
Unused in colder Arragon,
She prayed him to divine:
Erelong, and true love's sign,
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She prayed him to divine:
“Canst tell me, Sire,” she said, “what mean
The gentry of your land,
When softly, thus, and thus, they take
And press a lady's hand?”
The gentry of your land,
When softly, thus, and thus, they take
And press a lady's hand?”
“Ha! ha!” laughed Hal, “but tell me, Chick,
Each answering in course,
Do any press your hand?” “O yes,
My Master of the Horse.”
Each answering in course,
Do any press your hand?” “O yes,
My Master of the Horse.”
Off to the wars her gallant went,
And pushed the foremost dikes,
And gashed his fair young form against
A score of Flemish pikes.
And pushed the foremost dikes,
And gashed his fair young form against
A score of Flemish pikes.
Heart's blood ebbed fast; but Montagu,
Dipping a finger, wove
These red words in his shield: “Dear Queen,
I perish of your love!”
Dipping a finger, wove
These red words in his shield: “Dear Queen,
I perish of your love!”
Kimbolton, after many a year,
Again met Katherine's view:
The banished wife, with half a sigh,
Remembered Montagu.
Again met Katherine's view:
The banished wife, with half a sigh,
Remembered Montagu.
| The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman | |