Poems in Two Volumes, Volume 1: VII - The King of Sweden

VII - The King of Sweden

  The Voice of Song from distant lands shall call
  To that great King; shall hail the crowned Youth
  Who, taking counsel of unbending Truth,
  By one example hath set forth to all
  How they with dignity may stand; or fall,
  If fall they must. Now, whither doth it tend?
  And what to him and his shall be the end?
  That thought is one which neither can appal
  Nor chear him; for the illustrious Swede hath done
  The thing which ought to be: He stands _above_
  All consequences: work he hath begun
  Of fortitude, and piety, and love,
  Which all his glorious Ancestors approve:
  The Heroes bless him, him their rightful Son.

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