Feelings Of A French Royalist, On The Disinterment Of The Remains Of The Duke D’enghien

DEAR Reliques! from a pit of vilest mould
Uprisen–to lodge among ancestral kings;
And to inflict shame’s salutary stings
On the remorseless hearts of men grown old
In a blind worship; men perversely bold
Even to this hour,–yet, some shall now forsake
Their monstrous Idol if the dead e’er spake,
To warn the living; if truth were ever told
By aught redeemed out of the hollow grave:
O murdered Prince! meek, loyal, pious, brave!
The power of retribution once was given:
But ’tis a rueful thought that willow bands
So often tie the thunder-wielding hands
Of Justice sent to earth from highest Heaven!