THE QUEEN'S LAST RIDE.
(Written on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral ceremonies in London.)
THE Queen is taking a drive to-day, They have hung with purple the carriage-way, They have dressed with purple the royal track Where the Queen goes forth and never comes back.
Let no man labour as she goes by On her last appearance to mortal eye, With heads uncovered let all men wait For the Queen to pass, in her regal state.
Army and Navy shall lead the way For that wonderful coach of the Queen's to-day. Kings and Princes and Lords of the land Shall ride behind her, a humble band, And over the city and over the world Shall the Flags of all Nations be half-mast-furled, For the silent lady of royal birth Who is riding away from the Courts of earth; Riding away from the world's unrest To a mystical goal, on a secret quest.
Tho' in royal splendour she drives through town, Her robes are simple, she wears no crown: