Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HERMIT'S SPEECH TO QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THEOBALD'S, by GEORGE PEELE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HERMIT'S SPEECH TO QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THEOBALD'S, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My sovereign lady, and most gracious queen
Last Line: Than any one of silver or of gold.
Subject(s): Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burleigh; Elizabeth I, Queen Of England (1533-1603; Grief; Sorrow; Sadness


MY sovereign lady, and most gracious queen,
Be not displeas'd that one so meanly clad
Presumes to stand thus boldly in the way
That leads into this house accounted yours;
But, mild and full of pity as you are,
Hear and respect my lamentable tale.
I am a hermit that this ten years' space
Have led a solitary and retirèd life,
Here in my cell, not past a furlong hence.
Till by my founder, he that built this house,
Forgetful of his writing and his word,
Full sore against my will I was remov'd;
For he, o'ertaken with excessive grief,
Betook him to my silly hermitage,
And there hath liv'd two years and some few months,
By reason of these most bitter accidents;
As, first of all, his agèd mother's death,
Who liv'd a fifth and saw her four descents
Of those that lineally have sprung from her;
His daughter's death, a countess of this land,
Lost in the prime and morning of her youth;
And, last of all, his dear and loving wife.
These brought him to this solitary abode,
Where now he keeps, and hath enjoinèd me
To govern this his house and family,
A place unfit for one of my profession;
And therefore have I oft desir'd with tears,
That I might be restorèd to my cell,
Because I vow'd a life contemplative;
But all in vain; for, though to serve your majesty,
He often quits the place and comes to court,
Yet thither he repairs, and there will live.
Which I perceiving, sought by holy prayers
To change his mind and ease my troubled cares;
Then, having many days with sacred rites
Prepar'd myself to entertain good thoughts,
I went up to the lantern of this hall,
The better to behold God's works above;
And suddenly, when my devotion gan
To pierce the heavens, there did appear to me
A lady clad in white, who clos'd my eyes,
And, casting me into a slumbering trance,
"I am," said she, "that holy prophetess
Who sung the birth of Christ ere he appear'd;
Sibylla is my name; and I have heard
The moan thou mak'st for thy unquiet life:
Take thou this table, note the verses well;
Every first golden letter of these lines
Being put together signify her name
That can and will relieve thy misery;
And therefore presently go search her out,
A princely paragon, a maiden queen,
For such a one there is and only one:"
And therewithal she vanish'd was again.
After this vision, coming down from thence,
The bruit was that your majesty would come;
But yet my founder kept his hermitage,
And gave me warrant to provide for all,
A task unfitting one so base as I,
Whom neither sons nor servants would obey;
The younger like to scorn my poor advice,
Because that he hereafter in this place
Was to become the guardian of this house,
And so the same to settle in his blood
By that young babe, whom I have heard of late
By your appointment bears my founder's name;
Therefore I wish, for my good founder's sake,
That he may live, with this his first-born son,
Long time to serve your sacred majesty,
As his grandfather faithfully hath done.
Now, since you know my most distressèd plight,
My guardian's carelessness which came by care,
I humbly crave these verses may be read,
Whose capital letters make ELIZABETH,
By you, my noble Lord High Admiral;
The rather for [that] this great prophetess
Seem'd unto me as if she had foretold
Your famous victory o'er that Spanish navy
Which by themselves was term'd Invincible.
Seeing in these lines your princely name is writ
The miracle of time and nature's glory,
And you are she of whom Sibylla spake,
Vouchsafe to pity this your beadman's plaint,
And call my founder home unto his house,
That he may entertain your majesty,
And see these walks, wherein he little joys,
Delightful for your highness and your train;
Wherein likewise his two sons that be present
Will be both dutiful and diligent,
And this young Lady Vere, that's held so dear
Of my best founder, her good grandfather.
And lastly for myself, most gracious queen,
May it please you to restore me to my cell,
And, at your highness' absolute command,
My Lord High Chancellor may award a writ
For peaceable possession of the same;
And that [your] majesty's Lord Chamberlain
May from your highness have the like command
To cause my founder, now the guardian
Of this [fair] house, increas'd for your delight,
To take the charge thereof this present night:
Which being done, I'll to my hermitage,
And for your highness pray continually,
That God may pour upon you all his blessings,
And that the hour-glass of your happy reign
May run at full and never be at wane.
Thus having naught of value or of worth
Fit to present to such a peerless queen,
I offer to your highness, here, this bell,
A bell which hermits call Saint Anthony,
Given me by my noble lord and founder;
And I'll betake me to this brazen bell,
Which better me beseems ten thousand fold
Than any one of silver or of gold.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net