VICTORIA
OPENING THE PARLIAMENT OF 1841.
It was a scene of pomp.
The ancient hall
Where Britain's highest in their wisdom meet,
Showed proud array of noble and of peer,
Prelate and judge, each in his fitting robes
Of rank and power. And beauty lent its charms;
For with plumed brows, the island peeresses
Bore themselves nobly. Distant realms were there
In embassy, from the far jeweled East,
To that which stretcheth toward the setting sun,
My own young native land.
Long was the pause
Of expectation. Then the cannon spake,
The trumpets flourished bravely, and the throne
Of old Plantagenet that stood so firm,
While years and blasts and earthquake shocks dissolved
The linked dynasty of many climes,
Took in its golden arms a fair young form,
