A new star[224] in the firmament, to light and glory[225] born!
Alas! the change!—she placed her foot upon a triple throne,
And on the scaffold[226] now she stands—beside the block—ALONE!
The little dog that licks her hand—the last of all the crowd
That sunned themselves beneath her glance, and round her footsteps bowed!
—Her neck is bared—the blow is struck—the soul has passed[227] away!
The bright, the beautiful, is now a bleeding piece of clay![228]
The dog is moaning piteously; and, as it gurgles o’er,
Laps the warm blood that trickling runs unheeded to the floor![229]
The blood of beauty, wealth and power—the heart blood[230] of a Queen—