Written after reading Trevelyan's "Garibaldi and the making of Italy" <br /> <br /> <br />Poor foolish monarch, vacillating, vain, <br />Decaying victim of a race of kings, <br />Swift Destiny shook out her purple wings <br />And caught him in their shadow; not again <br />Could furtive plotting smear another stain <br />Across his tarnished honour. Smoulderings <br />Of sacrificial fires burst their rings <br />And blotted out in smoke his lost domain. <br />Bereft of courtiers, only with his queen, <br />From empty palace down to empty quay. <br />No challenge screamed from hostile carabine. <br />A single vessel waited, shadowy; <br />All night she ploughed her solitary way <br />Beneath the stars, and through a tranquil sea.<br /><br />Amy Lowell<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/francis-ii-king-of-naples/
