POEMS BY ALFRED TENNYSON, D.C.L., POET LAUREATE. ELEVENTH EDITION. LONDON: EDWARD MOXON, DOVER STREET. 1856. TO THE QUEEN. REVERED, beloved-O you that hold Than arms, or power of brain, or birth Could give the warrior kings of old, Victoria,―since your Royal grace This laurel greener from the brows And should your greatness, and the care Then-while a sweeter music wakes, And thro' wild March the throstle calls, Where all about your palace-walls The sun-lit almond-blossom shakes— Take, Madam, this poor book of song; For tho' the faults were thick as dust In vacant chambers, I could trust Your kindness. May you rule us long, And leave us rulers of your blood May children of our children say, 'Her court was pure; her life serene; God gave her peace; her land reposed; A thousand claims to reverence closed In her as Mother, Wife and Queen; 'And statesmen at her council met Who knew the seasons when to take The bounds of freedom wider yet |