THE BLAMELESS PRINCE
PRELUDE
Poet, wherefore hither bring
Old romance, while others sing
Sweeter idyls of to-day?
Why not picture in your lay
Western woods and waters grand,
Clouds and skies of this fair land?
Are there fairer far away?
I have many another song
Of those regions where belong,
First of all, my heart and home.
If for once my fancy roam,
Trust me, in the land I view
Falls the sunshine, falls the dew,
And the Spring and Summer come.
Why from yonder stubble glean
Ancient names of King and Queen,
Knightly men and maidens fair?
Are there in our time no rare
Beauteous women, heroes brave?
Is there naught this side the grave
Worth the dust you gather there?
Nay, but these were human too,
Strong or wayward, false or true.
Art will seek through every clime
For her picture or her rhyme;
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