bray. From Gr. bracho, to clash.
[27.] towers of Julius. "The oldest part of that structure (the Tower of London) is vulgarly attributed to Julius Cæsar."—Gray.
[28.] meek usurper. "Henry the Sixth, very near being canonized. The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the crown."—Gray. The references in the preceding line are to Henry's "consort," Queen Margaret, and his father, Henry V.
[29.] The rose of snow, twined with her blushing foe. The reference is to the union of the houses of York and Lancaster after the War of the Roses.
[30.] bristled boar. Richard III., so called from his badge of a silver boar. So Shakespeare:
"In the sty of the most deadly boar."
—Richard III., Act iv, sc. 5.
"The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar
That spoiled your summer fields and fruitful vines,
Swills your warm blood like wash."
—Ibid. Act v, sc. 2.
[31.] The bard's vision of the future has come to an end, and he again addresses the king.