The poems of Owen Meredith (Honble Robert Lytton.) Selected and revised by the author. Copyright edition. In two volumes |
 | I. |
 | II. |
|
 | The poems of Owen Meredith (Honble Robert Lytton.) |  |
49
THE SUBJECT'S APPEAL.
I
Dear despot of thy little state,This busy many-thoughted Me,
Which thy sole will doth regulate,
Since, 'twixt thy loyal folk and thee,
II
(Thy loyal folk,—each feeling, thought,And fancy,—all the sentient train
That, in me, owns thy sway) there's nought
Which may thy sovran power restrain,
III
Be in the uses of thy powerGentle, as noble monarchs are;
Nor vary with the varying hour,
But, bright and constant as a star,
IV
Sit in the system of my soul,And there, unmoved, the motions all
Of what thou mak'st my heaven controul.
Dear, though I be indeed thy thrall,
V
And such a grace have kings, though bad,That even rebels, boldest grown
By wrongs that make man's patience mad,
Do fear to strike against the Crown,
50
VI
Yet happy folk makes happy king:And worthiest is that monarch's might
Whom freely freemen love, that cling
In loyal trust to legal right.
| The poems of Owen Meredith (Honble Robert Lytton.) | |