 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
She tried to Smile.
1855.
[_]
[“The Empress endeavoured to smile, in acknowledgement of the cheers, but her feelings overcame her: she threw herself back, and gave way to a flood of tears.”—Report of the attempted assassination of the French Emperor.]
She tried to smile, for she would fain
Have so received her people's cheers;
But her heart found the effort vain,
And it gushed o'er in copious tears.
Above the Empress, in that strife,
Arose the Woman and the Wife.
Have so received her people's cheers;
But her heart found the effort vain,
And it gushed o'er in copious tears.
Above the Empress, in that strife,
Arose the Woman and the Wife.
411
She turned to her imperiled mate
With—who shall say what mingled pangs?—
On whose attempted life the fate
Of Europe, at this moment, hangs—
How looked he when thus sorely proved?
He was the only one unmoved!
With—who shall say what mingled pangs?—
On whose attempted life the fate
Of Europe, at this moment, hangs—
How looked he when thus sorely proved?
He was the only one unmoved!
Heaven-raised, Heaven-shielded, there he sat,
Impassive as the mountain rock—
A thousand storms may blaze round that,
It stirs not at the mightiest shock.
The fountain in its breast may quiver—
Its aspect is the same for ever!
Impassive as the mountain rock—
A thousand storms may blaze round that,
It stirs not at the mightiest shock.
The fountain in its breast may quiver—
Its aspect is the same for ever!
And hides not He, beneath that cold,
Calm front, a tender fountain too?
And felt he not how sweet to hold
The empire of a bosom true?
And deemed he not each tear a gem
Worth all that grace his diadem?
Calm front, a tender fountain too?
And felt he not how sweet to hold
The empire of a bosom true?
And deemed he not each tear a gem
Worth all that grace his diadem?
O happy in this double sway
Of heart and empire! Thou canst boast
That were the empire wrenched away,
The heart left, there were little lost;
The heart which blesses now thy lot,
Would make a palace of a cot!
Of heart and empire! Thou canst boast
That were the empire wrenched away,
The heart left, there were little lost;
The heart which blesses now thy lot,
Would make a palace of a cot!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Story | |