The Queen's Last Ride

(Written on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral)



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.

Though in royal splendour she drives through town,
Her robes are simple, she wears no crown:
And yet she wears one, for, widowed no more,
She is crowned with the love that has gone before,
And crowned with the love she has left behind
In the hidden depths of each mourner's mind.

Bow low your heads - lift your hearts on high -
The Queen in silence is driving by!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet, born on November 5, 1850, and died on October 30, 1919. She was known for her works expressing optimistic views and moral lessons. Her most famous book was 'Poems of Passion'. Her poem 'Solitude' contains the famous lines, 'Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone'. Over her career, Wilcox became popularly known as a 'people's poet'.

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Preface to The Englishman and Other Poems - The Queen's Last Ride

(Written on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral)

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...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Queen Victoria.

1837.


    The sunshine streaming through the stainèd glass
    Touched her with rosy colors as she stood,
    The maiden Queen of all the British realm,
    In the old Abbey on that soft June day.
    Youth shone within her eyes, where God had set
    All steadfastness, and high resolve, and truth;
    Youth flushed her cheek, dwelt on the smooth white brow
    Whereon the heavy golden circlet lay.

    The ashes of dead kings, the history of
    A nation's growth, of strife, and victory,
    The mighty past called soft through aisle and nave:
    "Be strong, O Queen; be strong as thou art fair!"
    A virgin, white of soul and unafraid,
    Since back of her was God, and at her feet
    A people loyal to the core, and strong,
    And loving w...

Jean Blewett

The Passing Of The Queen

Hark! The drums! Muffled drums!
The long low ruffle of the drums!--
And every head is bowed,
In the vast expectant crowd,
As the Great Queen comes,--
By the way she knew so well,
Where our cheers were wont to swell,
As we tried in vain to tell
Of our love unspeakable.
Now she comes
To the rolling of the drums,
And the slow sad tolling of the bell.
Let every head be bowed,
In the silent waiting crowd,
As the Great Queen comes,
To the slow sad ruffle of the drums!

Who is this that comes,
To the rolling of the drums,
In the sorrowful great silence of the peoples?
Take heart of grace,
She is not here!
The Great Queen is not here!
What most in her we did revere,--
The lofty spirit, white and clear,
The ten...

William Arthur Dunkerley (John Oxenham)

Grief

As the funeral train with its honoured dead
    On its mournful way went sweeping,
While a sorrowful nation bowed its head
    And the whole world joined in weeping,
I thought, as I looked on the solemn sight,
    Of the one fond heart despairing,
And I said to myself, as in truth I might,
    "How sad must be this SHARING."

To share the living with even Fame,
    For a heart that is only human,
Is hard, when Glory asserts her claim
    Like a bold, insistent woman;
Yet a great, grand passion can put aside
    Or stay each selfish emotion,
And watch, with a pleasure that springs from pride,
    Its rival - the world's devotion.

But Death should render to love its own,
    And my heart bowed down and sorrowed
For the stricken woman who wep...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Queen Victoria

A Prize Birthday Poem, 1885.


We do not sing of vast domain--
Empires as vast as ours are seen,
And o'er their millions despots reign;
We sing the virtues of our Queen.

We think of her when but a maid
The message came, "the King is dead!"
And at her feet a crown was laid;
In deep distress of mind, she said:

"In my behalf I ask your prayers."
Then falling on her knees to pray,
She told the Lord her fears and cares,
And sought from Him strength for her day.

He seemed to say, "Child, do not fear;
I will uphold thee with my hand,
And I will make thy pathway clear,
Thy throne establish in the land."

'Twas thus began Victoria's reign,
And God has made her throne secure;
Her enemies will plot in vain,
For it is d...

Joseph Horatio Chant

Little Queen.

        Do you remember the name I wore -
    The old pet-name of Little Queen -
        In the dear, dead days that are no more,
    The happiest days of our lives, I ween?
        For we loved with that passionate love of youth
    That blesses but once with its perfect bliss -
        A love that, in spite of its trust and truth,
    Seems never to thrive in a world like this.

        I lived for you, and you lived for me;
    All was centered in "Little Queen;"
        And never a thought in our hearts had we
    That strife or trouble could come between.
        What utter sinking of self it was!
    How little we cared for the world of men!
        For love's fair kingdom and love's sweet laws
    Were all of the world and life to us then.

  ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox