The Drama of Kings (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1871 Excerpt: ...thy sake, That when thou comest to thine own again Thy realm shall be a realm regenerate, Baptized a fair thing worthy of thy love In its own blood of direful victory. Napoleon. Sayest thou r--Rise --Friend, thou art little skilled In reading that abstruse astrology Whereby our cunning politicians cast The fate of Kings. France robed in victory Is France for ever lost to our great house. France fallen, is France that with my secret hand I may uplift again. But tell thy tale Most freely: let thy soul beat its free wings Before me as it lists. Come as thou sayest, France is no coward;--she hath at last arisen; Nay, more--she is sublime. Proceed. Officer. My liege, God, ere he made me thy most loving servant, Made and baptized me, Frenchman; and my heart, A soldier's heart, yearns out this day in pride To her who bare me, and both great and low My brethren. Courage is a virtue, Sire, Even in a wretched cause. In Strasbourg still Old Uhrich with his weight of seventy years Starves unsubdued, while the dull enemy Look on in wonder at such strength in woe; Bazaine still keeps the glittering hosts at bay, And holds them with a watchful hand and eye; The captain of the citadel at Laon, Soon as the foeman gather'd on his walls, Illumed the hidden mine, and Frank and Teuton, With that they strove for, strew'd the path in death; From Paris to the Vosges, loud and wild The tocsin rings to arms, and on the fields The fat ripe ear empties itself unreapt, While every man whose hand can grasp a sword Flocks to the petty standard of his town; The many looms of the great factory Stand silent, but the fiery moulds of clayAre fashioning cannon, and the blinding wheels Are sharpening steel. In every marketplace Peasant and prince are drilling side by side; Roused from their wi...