---

George Gordon Byron - Sonnet To George The Fourth, On The Repeal Of Lord Edward Fitzgerald`s Forfeiture
Work rating: Low

To be the father of the fatherless,
   To stretch the hand from the throne`s height, and raise
   His offspring, who expired in other days
To make thy sire`s sway by a kingdom less,--
This is to be a monarch, and repress
   Envy into unutterable praise.
   Dismiss thy guard, and trust thee to such traits,
For who would lift a hand, except to bless?
   Were it not easy, sir, and is`t not sweet
   To make thyself beloved? and to be
Omnipotent by mercy`s means? for thus
Thy sovereignty would grow but more complete:
A despot thou, and yet thy people free,
   And by the heart, not hand, enslaving us.
 
Bologna, August 12, 1819.
Source
The script ran 0.002 seconds.