The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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A PRINCE'S RETURN
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 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
166
A PRINCE'S RETURN
(Lines Written on the Death of Prince Henry of Battenberg)
I
Over purple leagues of shadowy water,Heedless now of starshine or of storm,
Watched and wept for by a Sovereign's daughter,
Comes the relic of a princely form.
Now from wave to wave in silence springing,
Not with sounds of battle or of glee,
Glides a lonely ghostlike vessel, bringing
Fever's victim o'er the lonely sea.
II
Not for love of fame or lust of glory,Not to gain an earthly conqueror's crown,
Not to win a name superb in story,
Was this Prince's gentle life laid down.
167
One with England in her every strife,
One in spirit with his soldier-brothers,
Keen to share their labours and their life.
III
Therefore hath he won a name undyingIn the conquering annals of our race:
He who, watching for the spear-storm flying,
Met a grimmer foeman face to face.
This the lesson—that through sternest trial
Flashes forth the light of high deeds done;
That, in all heroic self-denial,
Princes, people, and the Throne, are one.
Feb. 2, 1896.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |