Poems original and translated By John Herman Merivale ... A new and corrected edition with some additional pieces |
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 | Poems original and translated |  |
TWELFTH CENTURY.
Another century dawns, while hapless Robert boreThe sacred standard of the cross on Judah's hallow'd shore;
Returning home to claim once more the regal prize,
Finds Henry crown'd—against him strives—and in a dungeon dies.
First Henry, Beauclerk named, the Conqueror's youngest son—
His usurpation's guilt forgot, deserved the crown he won:
Learn'd, fortunate, and wise, he reign'd with just applause,
And granted the first charter of our liberties and laws;
Unhappy tow'rds the close, his only son he lost,
Wreck'd, with his sister and his friends, upon the Norman coast.
Stephen, in Thirty-five, usurps the English crown,
But for that wrong and fraudful act, a prince of fair renown;
With Maud, King Henry's daughter, for eighteen years and more,
Maintains a fierce and doubtful fight, and dies in Fifty-four.
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Assumes as rightful heir the crown his progeny holds yet;
Extends his royal sway o'er Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
And, wedding Eleanor, unites the realm of Aquitaine;
Ireland and Wales subdues, and humbles Scotia's pride,
But quarrels with the Church, and is by his own sons defied;
At Canterbury bows to murder'd Becket's shrine,
And, broken hearted, yields to fate, and dies in Eighty-nine.
Richard, the Lion's heart, disdains a peaceful throne;
He routs the Saracens before the walls of Ascalon;
A barren laurel wreath from Saladin obtains,
While England, to maintain his pride, her dearest life blood drains;
Then, homeward bound, is captived by an unworthy foe,
And afterwards, in war with France, is slain by a cross-bow.
| Poems original and translated | |