Mine and Thine (1904)/Coronation—To King Edward VII

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Mine and Thine (1904) by Florence Earle Coates Coronation—To King Edward VII

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This poem was not included in Mrs. Coates' collected Poems (1916, in 2 vols.).

CORONATION—TO KING EDWARD VII

If thou be crowned, or if thou be not crowned   With that imperial round Thy forbears from the distant ages wore, Sorrow and suffering for thee have earned A guerdon fairer than thy hope discerned; And through renunciation, thou hast found A cirque of sovereignty not dreamed before. If thou be crowned? Nay, thou art crowned now;   For, lo! upon thy brow, So lately shadowed by Death's mournful wing, A mighty people's sympathy has laid An aureole whose brightness shall not fade: Whose light, more worth than chrism, or seal, or vow, Sceptre or throne, makes thee, indeed, a King!