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Beyond
the Hills of Dream
by
William Wilfred Campbell
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In
Holyrood
1897
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I STAND
in Edinburgh, in Holyrood,
Where Scotland’s Mary flaunted; iron Knox
came,
With cavernous eyes and words of prophet-flame,
And broke her soul as bonds of brittle wood:—
And all stern Scotland’s evil and her good, |
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Her
austere ghosts, her souls of fiery shame,
Her adamantine passions none could tame,
Arise anew and drip in Rizzio’s blood.
Here
in these walls, these guilty corridors,
Beside1
that bed where Elizabeth’s eyes look down;— |
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Across
the centuries with their fading band
Of angry years of Presbyterian frown,—
I only know these tears2
of weird remorse;
The woman rules. All else is shifting sand.
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In
Queen Mary's bedroom in Holyrood, a portrait
of Queen Elizabeth hangs on the wall above
the bed. [back]
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It
is said that Knox, during this memorable interview,
made the Queen weep. [back]
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