[A] Henry the Sixth, crowned when an infant, at Paris.
[B] Richard the Third, by murdering so many near relations, seemed to
revenge the sufferings of Henry the Sixth, and his family, on the
House of York.
V.
"View the stern form that hovers nigh,
"Fierce rolls his dauntless eye
"In scorn of hideous death;
"Till starting at a brother's[A] name,
"Horror shrinks his glowing frame,
"Locks the half-utter'd groan,
"And chills the parting breath:--
"Astonish'd Nature heav'd a moan!
"When her affrighted eye beheld the hands
"She form'd to cherish, rend her holy bands.
[A] Richard the Third, who murdered his brother the Duke of Clarence.
VI.
"Look where a royal infant[A] kneels,
"Shrieking, and agoniz'd with fear,
"He sees the dagger pointed near
"A much-lov'd brother's[B] breast,
"And tells an absent mother all he feels:--
"His eager eye he casts around;
"Where shall her guardian form be found,
"On which his eager eye would rest!
"On her he calls in accents wild,
"And wonders why her step is slow
"To save her suff'ring child!--
"Rob'd in the regal garb, his brother stands
"In more majestic woe--
"And meets the impious stroke with bosom bare;
"Then fearless grasps the murd'rer's hands,
"And asks the minister of hell to spare
"The child whose feeble arms sustain
"His bleeding form from cruel Death.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98