Page:Florence Earle Coates Mine and Thine 1904 021.jpg



thou be crowned, or if thou be not crowned

With that imperial round

Thy forbears from the distant ages wore,

Sorrow and suffering for thee have earned

A guerdon fairer than thy hope discerned;

And through renunciation, thou hast found

A cirque of sovereignty not dreamed before.

If thou be crowned? Nay, thou art crowned now;

For, lo! upon thy brow,

So lately shadowed by Death's mournful wing,

A mighty people's sympathy has laid