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[The title means "King William."]
The folk who lived in Shakespeare's day
And saw that gentle figure pass
By London Bridge, his frequent way-
They little knew what man he was.

The pointed beard, the courteous mien,
The equal port2 to high and low,
All this they saw or might have seen-
But not the light behind the brow!

The doublet's modest gray or brown,
The slender sword-hilt's plain device, 10
What sign had these for prince or clown?
Few turned, or none, to scan him twice.

Yet 'twas the king of England's kings!
The rest with all their pomps and trains
Are mouldered, half-remembered things-
'Tis he alone that lives and reigns!

(1896)

I tale. Number.

a equal port. Same manner.

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[This is a sailor's "chantey," in praise of the great British Admiral, Sir Francis Drake, who was born in Devonshire, 1540, and was buried at sea in the Caribbean, January, 1596. The poem embodies one of many legends respecting Drake's promise to return to the help of England in case of need.]

Drake he's in his hammock an' a thousand mile away

(Capten, art tha sleepin' there below?), Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,1

An' dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe.2

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