Poems (Jackson)/Coronation
CORONATION.
T the king's gate the subtle noon Wove filmy yellow nets of sun;Into the drowsy snare too soon The guards fell one by one.Through the king's gate, unquestioned then, A beggar went, and laughed, "This bringsMe chance, at last, to see if men Fare better, being kings."
The king sat bowed beneath his crown, Propping his face with listless hand;Watching the hour-glass sifting down Too slow its shining sand.
"Poor man, what wouldst thou have of me?" The beggar turned, and, pitying,Replied, like one in dream, "Of thee, Nothing. I want the king."
Uprose the king, and from his head Shook off the crown and threw it by."O man, thou must have known," he said, "A greater king than I."
Through all the gates, unquestioned then, Went king and beggar hand in hand.Whispered the king, "Shall I know when Before his throne I stand?"
The beggar laughed. Free winds in haste Were wiping from the king's hot browThe crimson lines the crown had traced. "This is his presence now."
At the king's gate, the crafty noon Unwove its yellow nets of sun;Out of their sleep in terror soon The guards waked one by one.
"Ho here! Ho there! Has no man seen The king?" The cry ran to and fro;Beggar and king, they laughed, I ween, The laugh that free men know.
On the king's gate the moss grew gray; The king came not. They called him dead:And made his eldest son one day Slave in his father's stead.