Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BENJAMIN-CONSTANTS PORTRAIT OF QUEEN VICTORIA, by ARTHUR W. UPSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BENJAMIN-CONSTANTS PORTRAIT OF QUEEN VICTORIA, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Apart, with centuries which she doth illume
Last Line: What counter of gains hath likewise told her tears?
Subject(s): Constant, Benjamin (1845-1902); Victoria, Queen Of England (1819-1901)


APART, with centuries which she doth illume,
The sunset on her face, around her throne
Tapestried legends and heraldic stone,
Silent she sits within that gorgeous gloom.
Eyes narrowed in far retrospect assume
Sorrows of empire. Not her dream alone
Occident glories, Orients homage-prone,
But more and more of Lucknow and Khartum.
Along the past with heavy-lidded eyes
She looks as one who knows the vision well,
A quiet woman whom stately powers compel
To splendour, and to silent sacrifice —
For in the clare-obscure of her deep years
What counter of gains hath likewise told her tears?





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