CANTO SIXTH THE GUILLOTINE Come, sir, convey me to the block of shame. RICHARD III. 'Tis better USING France than TRUSTING France. HENRY VIII. I THANK heaven! this work demands no epic pen : "Twill therefore break no rules should I impart A circumstance extraneous as a wen- Of poetry their due respect: but then, II Away with trifling! I have just retraced My steps to Place de Grêvés' dark square, and seen The sun shone out unfeelingly, and chased Those clouds that better had become the scene; And thousands, thousands thronged to see him die— III And there I marked, by heaven! a father raise His little child above the crowd, as tho' He sought to sear the startled infant's gaze, That bane and bloodshed with its growth might grow—(11) Or freeze, at once, that precious fount which plays I noted well the sallow villain's air, And read of revolution horrors there. (12) IV The fettered victim in a cart came on: An aged priest prayed by him; but the prayer White lip he felt it not; for, wild and wan, V The hurdle paused. He rose with every nerve Had written much. He said his father's age Must now be brought with sorrow to the grave— (13) |