Poem of the week: from The Bard. A Pindaric Ode by Thomas Gray

With invigorating pace and rhythm, British history is presented as a vivid mix of tragedy and triumph

Heard ye the din of battle bray?’ ... a medieval jousting tournament recreated at the Tower of London. Photograph: Stephen Hird/Reuters

Carol Rumens

Monday 31 August 2015  -The Guardian

II.1 (Strophe)
Weave the warp, and weave the woof,
The winding-sheet of Edward’s race.
Give ample room, and verge enough
The characters of hell to trace.
Mark the year, and mark the night,
When Severn shall re-eccho with affright
The shrieks of death, thro’ Berkley’s roofs that ring,
Shrieks of an agonizing King!
She-Wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,
That tear’st the bowels of thy mangled Mate,
From thee be born, who o’er thy country hangs
The scourge of Heav’n. What Terrors round him wait!
Amazement in his van, with Flight combined,
And Sorrow’s faded form, and Solitude behind.

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