The Coronation of Ines de Castro
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2022
Summary
Through windows richly dight
The mellow sunbeams shine,
But sadly falls their light
On Sancta Clara's shrine.
The King and Court are there,
Robed Priests and Knights in mail;
But every head is bare,
And every cheek is pale.
The young and fair are met,
The brave and haughty come,
But eyes with tears are wet,
And lips with awe are dumb.
In pomp of regal pride
There sits enthron’d a Queen;
Don Pedro at her side
Surveys the solemn scene.
Though grief be on his brow,
Yet tearless is his eye,
He hears each plighted vow
With spirit stern and high.
Yet even He must feel
Far more than tongue could own,
As one by one they kneel
Before that silent throne.
As one by one they take
That passive hand to kiss,
His thoughts and feelings wake
Dreams of departed bliss.
For oh! no life-blood warm
That frame may animate,
But wasted is the form
Thus thron’d in splendid state;
Its glittering crown of gold
Rests on a lifeless head;
Its broider’d robes enfold
The reliques of the dead!
Those robes are but a pall,
However bright their sheen;
She sits before them all
The spectre of a Queen.
They bear her back to earth,
And close the fearful rite,
But not one thought of mirth
The pageant should excite:
For by it may be seen,
In its glory and its gloom,
How brief the space between
The proud throne and silent tomb.
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- Information
- Selected Poems of Bernard Barton, the 'Quaker Poet' , pp. 199 - 200Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2020