 | Fantasy and Passion |  |
108
BEHIND HISTORY.
I am the Queen they hold so pure.
They will carve my tomb one day, be sure,
With marble praise that shall endure.
They will carve my tomb one day, be sure,
With marble praise that shall endure.
I hear them bless me, low and loud;
The haughtiest head is bared and bowed
If I ride among the pressing crowd.
The haughtiest head is bared and bowed
If I ride among the pressing crowd.
No churl of all my realm would tame
His hot hand should he hear my name
Called lightly by the lips of blame.
His hot hand should he hear my name
Called lightly by the lips of blame.
Many a life would proudly spill
Red loyal drops to work my will,
Or save me from one sting of ill.
Red loyal drops to work my will,
Or save me from one sting of ill.
Yet all the adoring care that I
Am guarded and am girded by,
Is reverence to a living lie! ...
Am guarded and am girded by,
Is reverence to a living lie! ...
There served a man amid my train
Whom, day by day, with struggling pain,
I schooled my spirit to disdain.
Whom, day by day, with struggling pain,
I schooled my spirit to disdain.
A vassal base of birth was he;
And yet (ah, God! that it should be!)
His mere brute beauty maddened me.
And yet (ah, God! that it should be!)
His mere brute beauty maddened me.
For days, for weeks, I strove and prayed,
Loathing the strong strange love that weighed
On the white life it dared invade.
Loathing the strong strange love that weighed
On the white life it dared invade.
At last I wearied from my soul
Of endless effort to control
Desire that never gained a goal.
Of endless effort to control
Desire that never gained a goal.
109
I laughed a reckless bitter laugh:
Lo, prayer was even as arid chaff,
And continence a shattered staff,
Lo, prayer was even as arid chaff,
And continence a shattered staff,
Since neither might avail to bring
Me any peace, or pluck the sting
From infinite pangs of coveting.
Me any peace, or pluck the sting
From infinite pangs of coveting.
And so it fell, one fatal hour,
That passion burst, with sudden power,
To poisonous and full-petalled flower.
That passion burst, with sudden power,
To poisonous and full-petalled flower.
I met him in most secret wise ...
Full presently from his mild eyes
Obeisance died and was surprise ...
Full presently from his mild eyes
Obeisance died and was surprise ...
But after, in a little space,
It was with all his lit flushed face
As sudden morn in a dull place.
It was with all his lit flushed face
As sudden morn in a dull place.
And watching him with wild unrest,
I saw his great mute joy confest,
And leaped toward his willing breast! ...
I saw his great mute joy confest,
And leaped toward his willing breast! ...
Now this was in the early night;
But when the first vague veil of light
Filmed heaven, he past from out my sight,
But when the first vague veil of light
Filmed heaven, he past from out my sight,
And groping down the palace-stair,
In the grey gloom met unaware
My masked assassin, crouching there! ...
In the grey gloom met unaware
My masked assassin, crouching there! ...
I am the Queen they hold so pure:
They will carve my tomb one day, be sure,
With marble praise that shall endure!
They will carve my tomb one day, be sure,
With marble praise that shall endure!
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