He died at dawn in the land of snows; A priest at the left, a priest at the right; The doomed man praying for his pitiless foes, And each priest holding a low dim light, To pray for the soul of the dying. But Windsor Castle was far away; And Windsor Castle was never so gay With her gorgeous banners flying! The hero was hung in the windy dawn -- 'Twas splendidly done, the telegraph said; A creak of the neck, then the shoulders drawn; A heave of the breast -- and the man hung dead, And, oh! never such valiant dying! While Windsor Castle was far away With its fops and fools on that windy day, And its thousand banners flying! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MARY DONNELLY by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM LAST LINES OF THOMAS INGOLDSBY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM TO MARY IN HEAVEN by ROBERT BURNS ON A LADY WHO FANCIED HERSELF A BEAUTY by CHARLES SACKVILLE (1637-1706) TO CHLOE; AN APOLOGY FOR GOING INTO THE COUNTRY by JOHN WOLCOTT THE GUERDON by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH GOOD LUCK by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS TO BARON DE STONNE WITH AIKIN'S ESSAYS ON SONG-WRITING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |