Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON SEEING THE QUEEN'S TRAIN PASS THROUGH COATBRIDGE, by JANET HAMILTON Poet's Biography First Line: My queen! Beloved, bereaved - no festal car Last Line: To thee and thine be husband, father, friend. Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Death; Grief; Love - Loss Of; Marriage; Mourning; Women; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Bereavement | ||||||||
MY QUEEN! beloved, bereavedno festal car Is that which speeds thee to the wilds afar. A stricken deer thou fliest, O mourning Queen, To seek thy wonted haunts and weep unseen! Weep, gracious Lady! tears are blessed things; Woe to the stricken heart from whence up-springs No gushing sorrows! Ah! the burning pain Of grief is softened by that tender rain. The hills of mist, the forests dense and lone, The mountain torrents plunging, thundering on, Wild glens, dark corries, lakes of silver sheen, Say to thy lonely heart, "Here he hath been!" But ah! the loving life of that sad heart But half survives, since he, its dearer part, Was reft by early death from thy lone side, And left thee sadly stemming life's dark tide. Yet not alone, though thy worn spirit pines That thou no more may'st read the tender lines Of love and truth writ on that pallid face, Where anguish'd suffering strove with patient grace; For ere he went, was wreathed a golden chain The precious links are ninestill to retain Close to thy heart the children of his love, So dear on earth, and waited for above; And these dear pledges thou, in faith and prayer, Wilt watch, teach, guide, and lead to meet him there. Oh! may the dews of Heaven, descending, shed A balm celestial on thy sacred head More sacred in the majesty of woe Than aught thy crown and sceptre can bestow! Though deep and true the sympathy we feel, Thine is a wound that only God can heal. Sharp was the stroke, and heavy was the rod, But He who chastened is thy FatherGod. Kneel for His blessinglean upon His breast Thy weary head, and sob thyself to rest. Forgive me, Lady; I would not intrude I would not dare to stir with finger rude Thy depth of woe. God save thee and defend; To thee and thine be Husband, Father, Friend. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HUNGERFIELD by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE MOURNER by LOUISE MOREY BOWMAN HECUBA MOURNS by MARILYN NELSON THERE IS NO GOD BUT by AGHA SHAHID ALI IF I COULD MOURN LIKE A MOURNING DOVE by FRANK BIDART A BALLAD FOUNDED ON A REAL INCIDENT WHICH OCCURED IN HIGH LIFE by JANET HAMILTON |
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