The Visions of England eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 180 pages of information about The Visions of England.

The Visions of England eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 180 pages of information about The Visions of England.

St. 5 Black Norris; had been at variance with Sir W. Stanley before the engagement.  Morris was one of twelve gallant brothers, whose complexion followed that of their mother, named by Elizabeth ’her own crow.’—­North; was lying bedrid from a wound in the leg, but could not resist volunteering at Zutphen, and rode up ’with one boot on and one boot off.’—­Cuisses;

   I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,
   His cuisses on his thighs:  (Henry IV, Part I:  A. iv:  S. i):—­

Sidney flung off his ’in a fit of chivalrous extravagance.’—­At the joust; In Sonnets 41 and 53 of Astrophel and Stella Sidney describes how the sudden sight of his lady-love dazzled him as he rode in certain tournaments.  In Son. 69 he cries: 

   I, I, O, I, may say that she is mine.

ELIZABETH AT TILBURY

September:  1588

Let them come, come never so proudly,
O’er the green waves as giants ride;
Silver clarions menacing loudly,
‘All the Spains’ on their banners wide;
High on deck of the gilded galleys
Our light sailers they scorn below:—­
We will scatter them, plague, and shatter them,
Till their flag hauls down to their foe! 
For our oath we swear
By the name we bear,
By England’s Queen, and England free and fair,—­
Her’s ever and her’s still, come life, come death:—­
God save Elizabeth!

Sidonia, Recalde, and Leyva
Watch from their Castles in swarthy scorn,
Lords and Princes by Philip’s favour;—­
We by birthright are noble born! 
Freemen born of the blood of freemen,
Sons of Crecy and Flodden are we! 
We shall sunder them, fire, and plunder them,—­
English boats on an English sea! 
And our oath we swear,
By the name we bear,
By England’s Queen, and England free and fair,—­
Her’s ever and her’s still, come life, come death! 
God save Elizabeth!

Drake and Frobisher, Hawkins, and Howard,
Raleigh, Cavendish, Cecil, and Brooke,
Hang like wasps by the flagships tower’d,
Sting their way through the thrice-piled oak:—­
Let them range their seven-mile crescent,
Giant galleons, canvas wide! 
Ours will harry them, board, and carry them,
Plucking the plumes of the Spanish pride. 
For our oath we swear
By the name we bear,
By England’s Queen, and England free and fair,—­
Her’s ever and her’s still, come life, come death! 
God save Elizabeth!

—­Hath God risen in wrath and scatter’d? 
Have His tempests smote them in scorn? 
Past the Orcades, dumb and tatter’d,
’Mong sea-beasts do they drift forlorn? 
We were as lions hungry for battle;
God has made our battle His own! 
God has scatter’d them, sunk, and shatter’d them: 
Give the glory to Him alone! 
While our oath we swear,
By the name we bear,
By England’s Queen, and England free and fair,—­
Her’s ever and her’s still, come life, come death! 
God save Elizabeth!

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Visions of England from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.