England and Yesterday — London - III. Saint Peter-ad-Vincula

S.

PETER-AD-VINCULA.

Too well I know, pacing the place of awe, Three queens, young save in trouble, moulder by;

More in his halo, Monmouth’s mocking eye, The eagle Essex in a harpy’s claw;

Seymour and Dudley, and stout heads that saw Sundown of Scotland: how with treasons lie White martyrdoms; rank in a company Breaker and builder of the eternal law.

Oft as I come, the bitter garden-row Of ruined roses hanging from the stem, Where winds of old defeat yet batter them, Infects me: suddenly must I depart, Ere thought of men’s injustice then, and now, Add to these aisles one other broken heart.

IV.