The folk who lived in Shakespeare's day <br />And saw that gentle figure pass <br />By London Bridge, his frequent way-- <br />They little knew what man he was. <br /> <br />The pointed beard, the courteous mien, <br />The equal port to high and low, <br />All this they saw or might have seen-- <br />But not the light behind the brow! <br /> <br />The doublet's modest gray or brown, <br />The slender sword-hilt's plain device, <br />What sign had these for prince or clown? <br />Few turned, or none, to scan him twice. <br /> <br />Yet 't was the King of England's kings! <br />The rest with all their pomps and trains <br />Are mouldered, half-remembered things-- <br />'T is he alone that lives and reigns!<br /><br />Thomas Bailey Aldrich<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/guilielmus-rex/
