Britain ... - Blue-Lite

THE VARANGIAN. [Act I,
And if ye do not both my will obey,
Ye from these English shores shall soon be driven,
And banished Normandy. Thy bridal day,
If, Norfolk, thou persist to wed, shall be
An evil day to all : a long divorce
Shall mar thy hoped-for joys ;
and thy sad bride,
Robed like a widow in the weeds of woe,
Mid her lone bower thine absence long bewail.
NORFOLK.
Good Heaven amend thee, King ! What
! have I served
Thy bold designs and purposes for this ?
With sixty barques, manned by a well-armed train,
Did I not furnish thee, when to this isle
Thou cam'st to seek a kingdom ? Thou forget'st
How I at Hastings fought, and hewed my way
Through Harold's stalwart ranks ; how but it irks
My very soul to speak of what I've done
To make thy ducal seat a kingly throne.
KING.
Matchless !
effrontery Vain, proud-hearted Norfolk,
And wouldst thou have me think I owe to thee
The wreath bound on these brows ? Slave, 'twas this arm,
With iron sinews nerved, this heart of steel,
With the brave blood of northern Hollo filled,
That won this island throne ;
and thou shalt find,
If to my power rebellious, this same arm
Shall crush thee into dust !
NORFOLK (not heeding him.)
By all the saints,
My services a brave reward awaits,
To have my brightest blossoms rudely shook
From Hope's fair tree by the tempestuous blast