THE WHITE SHIP
HENRY I OF ENGLAND. _25th November 1120.
Y none but me can the tale be told,
The butcher of Rouen, poor Berold.
(Lands are swayed by a King on a throne.)
'Twas a royal train put forth to sea,
Yet the tale can be told by none but me. 5
(The sea hath no King but God alone.)
King Henry held it as life's whole gain
That after his death his son should reign.
'Twas so in my youth I heard men say,
And my old age calls it back to-day. 10
King Henry of England's realm was he,
And Henry Duke of Normandy.
The times had changed when on either coast
'Clerkly Harry' was all his boast.
Of ruthless strokes full many an one 15
He had struck himself and his son;
And his elder brother's eyes were gone.
And when to the chase his court would crowd,
The poor flung ploughshares on his road,
And shrieked: 'Our cry is from King of God!1 2o
But all the chiefs of the English land
Had knelt a&d kissed the Prince's hand.
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