“DEIGN, SOVEREIGN MISTRESS! TO ACCEPT A LAY”
In January 1846 Wordsworth sent a copy of his Poems to the Queen, for the Royal Library at Windsor, and inscribed the following lines upon the fly-leaf. For their republication I am indebted to the gracious permission of Her Majesty.—Ed.
Deign, Sovereign Mistress![428] to accept a lay,
No Laureate offering of elaborate art;
But salutation taking its glad way
From deep recesses of a loyal heart.
Queen, Wife, and Mother! may All-judging Heaven 5
Shower with a bounteous hand on Thee and Thine
Felicity that only can be given
On earth to goodness blest by grace divine.