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CŒUR DE LION.
Marochetti’s Statue in the Great Exhibition of 1851.
I.
RICHARD the Lion‐hearted, crowned serene With the true royalty of perfect man; Seated in stone above the praise or ban Of these mixed crowds who come gaping lean As if to see what the word “king” might mean In those old times. Behold! what need that rim Of crown ’gainst this blue sky, to signal him A monarch, of the monarchs that have been, And, perhaps, are not?—Read his destinies In the full brow o’er‐arching kingly eyes, In the strong hands, grasping both rein and sword, In the close mouth, so sternly beautiful:— Surely, a man who his own spirit can rule; Lord of himself, therefore his brethren’s lord. page: 108II.
“O Richard, O mon roi.” So minstrels sighed. The many‐centuried voice dies fast away Amidst the turmoil of our modern day. How know we but these green‐wreathed legends hide An ugly truth that never could abide In this our living world’s far purer air?— Nevertheless, O statue, rest thou there, Our Richard, of all chivalry the pride; Or if not the true Richard, still a type Of the old regal glory, fallen, o’er‐ripe, And giving place to better blossoming: Stand—imaging the grand heroic days; And let our little children come and gaze, Whispering with innocent awe—“This was a King.”