Page:A channel passage and other poems (IA channelpassageot00swinrich).pdf/106

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92

CROMWELL'S STATUE[1]

What needs our Cromwell stone or bronze to say
His was the light that lit on England's way
The sundawn of her time-compelling power,
The noontide of her most imperial day?

His hand won back the sea for England's dower;
His footfall bade the Moor change heart and cower;
His word on Milton's tongue spake law to France
When Piedmont felt the she-wolf Rome devour.

From Cromwell's eyes the light of England's glance
Flashed, and bowed down the kings by grace of chance,
The priest-anointed princes; one alone
By grace of England held their hosts in trance.

  1. Refused by the party of reaction and disunion in the House of Commons on the 17th of June, 1895.