Page:Poems, Volume 2, Coates, 1916.djvu/220



EAR where the royal victims fell

In days gone by, caught in the swell

Of a ruthless tide

Of human passion, deep and wide:

There where we two

A Nation's later sorrow knew,—

To-day, O friend! I stood

Amid a self-ruled multitude

That by nor sound nor word

Betrayed how mightily its heart was stirred.

A memory Time never could efface—

A memory of grief—

Like a great Silence brooded o'er the place;

And men breathed hard, as seeking for relief

From an emotion strong

That would not cry, though held in check too long.