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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON A ROYAL VISIT TO THE VAULTS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON

Poet Analysis

First Line: FAMED FOR THEIR CIVIL AND DOMESTIC QUARRELS
Last Line: THE BLOOD AND DIRT OF BOTH TO MOULD A GEORGE!
Subject(s): GEORGE IV, KING OF ENGLAND (1762-1830); HENRY VIII, KING OF ENGLAND (1491-1547); CHARLES I, KING OF ENGLAND (1600-1649);
OR CAESAR'S DISCOVERY OF C. I. AND
H. '. IN YE SAME VAULT

FAMED for their civil and domestic quarrels,
See heartless Henry lies by headless Charles;
Between them stands another sceptred thing,
It lives, it reigns -- 'aye, every inch a king.'
Charles to his people, Henry to his wife,
In him the double tyrant starts to life:
Justice and Death have mix'd their dust in vain,
The royal Vampires join and rise again.
What now can tombs avail, since these disgorge
The blood and dirt of both to mould a George!



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