A Voice from the People.
[Composed on the occasion of the inauguration of the memorial statue of His late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, at Aberdeen, 13th October, 1863.]
Hail! virtuous Lady, England’s pride;
Abate thy grief, and gently glide
Among thy people, who—so free—
Have long’d thy widow’d face to see
Bedeck’d with smiles, and thou again
Enjoying tranquilly thy reign.
Come, Lady, and sweet comfort find;
Come with thy children ’round thee twin’d,
For they shall reap that earthly bliss
Sown in thy former happiness.
We’ve miss’d thee, seemingly, for years;
The while thou’st shed a nation’s tears
For thine, for ours, for God’s elect:
Come forth, conjointly to erect
Our heads, and give Him praise for all.
Let Hope’s bright rays again thy soul,
And ours, abundantly rejoice!—
That all thy subjects, with one voice,
May sing “God save our gracious Queen:”—
“Long live our dear and noble Queen
Victoria;” who at Aberdeen,
To-day, amidst her people’s seen
Unveiling to her country’s gaze
A lov’d one’s statue, ne’er t’erase
’T from memory. With fortitude
The ceremony she withstood,
And taught the world how much she loved
The one whom she had so well proved
A husband, and a worthy sire,—
Once mortal; now, immortal, higher!
From thy deep solitude come forth
And tread the land which gave thee birth
With footsteps light; thus, cheerily,
List to our songs so merrily
As thou wert wont in days of yore:
Come, be as blithe as heretofore,
Among thy people; for we fain
Would see thy queenly smiles again.[4]
[4] The author having sent a copy of this poem to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales (then at Sandringham), had the pleasure of receiving the following letter:—
“Sandringham, November 4, 1863.
“Sir,—I am desired to inform you that, by the direction of the Princess of Wales, I have to-day forwarded to Sir Charles Phipps, for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen, your poem, written on the occasion of the inauguration of the memorial statue of the Prince Consort, at Aberdeen. Her Royal Highness also desires me to say that she read the lines with great gratification.
“I am, sir,
“Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) “Herbert Fisher.
“Mr. E. E. Foot,
“105, Ebury St., Pimlico.”
