Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Runnimede | | The Barons at Runnimede | | Sir Aubrey de Vere (1788–1846) |
| | | WITH what an awful grace those barons stood | |
| In presence of the king at Runnimede! | |
| Their silent finger to that righteous deed | |
| O’er which, with cheek forsaken of its blood, | |
| He hung, still pointing with stern hardihood, | 5 |
| And brow that spake the unuttered mandate, “Read!” | |
| “Sign!” He glares round.—Never! though thousands bleed | |
| He will not! Hush,—low words, in solemn mood, | |
| Are murmured; and he signs. Great God! were these | |
| Progenitors of our enfeebled kind? | 10 |
| Whose wordy wars are waged to thwart or please | |
| Minions, not kings; who stoop with grovelling mind | |
| To weigh the pauper’s dole, scan right by rule, | |
| And plunder churches to endow a school! | | | | |
|
|
