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QUEEN MARY AT FOTHERINGAY, by                    
First Line: What have I gained who gave so much?
Last Line: Show me now what it means to die!
Subject(s): Mary, Queen Of Scots (1542-1587); Mary Stuart


WHAT have I gained who gave so much?
A crown too slippery for my clutch --
A body misused and a heart abused.
What have I gained for all I spent?
Many a dead man's curse to rue,
Many a lover and not one true,
Many a bribe, though not my due --
Yet I have lived, and am content.

SAY that I squandered life -- confessed.
Had I been miser of my best,
To-day I would be in penury
Even as now, a fool betrayed.
The crown of stars and the nether flame
Both have I proved in the teeth of blame.
Have not the years in pride and shame
Given the worth of all I paid?

THE course I chose was the course I kept;
In the face of doom like a flame I leapt.
Bitter and sweet have I known complete --
One adventure is left to try.
Life I have finished, mire to throne --
Here at life's end I stand alone.
Headsman, warder of worlds unknown,
Show me now what it means to die!





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