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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ST. PETER-AD-VINCULA by LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: TOO WELL I KNOW, PACING THE PLACE OF AWE
Last Line: ADD TO THESE AISLES ONE OTHER BROKEN HEART.
Subject(s): ELIZABETH I, QUEEN OF ENGLAND (1533-1603; LONDON;

TOO well I know, pacing the place of awe,
Three queens, young save in trouble, moulder by;
More in his halo, Monmouth's mocking eye,
The eagle Essex in a harpy's claw;
Seymour and Dudley, and stout heads that saw
Sundown of Scotland: how with treasons lie
White martyrdoms; rank in a company
Breaker and builder of the eternal law.

Oft as I come, the hateful garden-row
Of ruined roses hanging from the stem,
Where winds of old defeat yet batter them,
Infects me: suddenly must I depart,
Ere thought of men's injustice then and now
Add to these aisles one other broken heart.




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