.
The Nation’s Heart
The Nation’s heart has passed away,
A loving grandmother to all.
And now it’s for her son we pray
Whom Charles the Third we’ll learn to call.
But will he fill that vital space
Elizabeth has left behind?
For peerless was her poise and grace,
This pinnacle of womankind.
.
.
Waiting in Line
They wait in line to view the royal coffin;
The casket spells the end of all they’ve known.
And time, they somehow feel, will never soften
That awful sense that now they’re on their own.
No longer will her presence reassure them
That all is well however things appear.
The world, they fear, is changing fast before them,
And what she stood for soon will disappear.
.
.
Paul Martin Freeman is an art dealer in London. His recent book, A Chocolate Box Menagerie, was published by New English Review Press.
You have spoken eloquently of Queen Elizabeth…thank you.
Thank you, Allegra. I sense you’ve understood exactly what I was trying to say.
Beautifully written, Martin. Can’t say I agree with your views, but you have expressed the views of her side and her supporters exquisitely.
Best regards,
Paddy
Thank you for your appreciative comment, Paddy. I was trying to express what I sensed the mass of people here in the UK were feeling when the Queen died, rather than make any political statement. But yes, if I didn’t in some way share in those feelings I couldn’t have written these poems.
These are two poignant poems that I am sure reflect the feelings and sentiments of so many people in the UK. The first mourns the loss of one who seemed to provide stability and reassurance. The second is apprehensive about what comes next for the future of the nation. Extremely well written and apropos.
Thank you, Roy. The Queen had been on the throne for so long she occupied a unique place in many people’s hearts here irrespective of their politics.
She amazingly rose to the challenge when she became Queen so long ago during times that were even more challenging than these. I wish I had confidence that someone else in the family has the potential to do likewise. We know it won’t be Charles and I don’t see anyone else waiting in the wings but I hope I’m wrong. Great reflections on a great woman.
Thank you, Warren.
You’ve expressed very gracefully and emotionally what many Brits felt and still feel. The Queen did die at a tumultuous time, however, what with Brexit, Covid, a war in Europe and the effects of climate change being increasingly felt, all of which has led to a time of uncertainty during the beginning of King Charles the Third’s reign.
That said, there have been a couple of incidences – the leaky pen and the delay during the Coronation drive – where Charles has behaved like a spoilt brat.
Thank you, Paul. It must be very frustrating for the King to know he will always live in his mother’s shadow.
Dear Paul Martin, thank you for expressing these things that so many of us feel about Queen Elizabeth. “The casket spells the end of all they’ve known.” Even as an American who hadn’t closely followed all the news from England, I was still glued to the ceremony all day, and definitely felt the dreadful feeling that “what she stood for soon will disappear.” God rest her soul.
Dear Cynthia, thank you for your sensitive comments. “[We] shall not look upon [her] like again.”
And congratulations on winning this prestigious prize!
Thank you, Paul.
Simply and beautifully expressed, Paul Martin. I say so as an American for whom Queen Elizabeth was not a grandmother or a reassuring presence, but who nevertheless has been an admirable figure and a part of my history. It was a blessing to spend a month around the time of her Platinum Jubilee in England (the Jubilee weekend itself in London). Statisticians said 94% of the world’s population were born during her reign. Times are changing, but how much they have changed since the recorded beginnings of the royal family. There have been a few great ones like Elizabeth II, many mediocre, some terrible, and a few saints with high places in heaven. All paths are open to present and future royals. Your poems do well to present the hopes and fears of their people.
This is a second comment, made in the hope that my first may reappear, as sometimes happens when technology hides something in its warps. “Waiting in Line” expresses an ominous sorrow in careful phrasing and poem structure. The third line with “time, they somehow feel, will never soften” seems to envision hard times of stark despair, although the sentence is completed otherwise in the following line. Maintaining but reversing the logic of third and fourth lines in the second stanza, “they fear” gives a feeling of powerlessness in the face of rapid change, but the worst comes last: “what she stood for soon will disappear.” It’s worst because she stood for so much to so many. Inexpressible, in a good way that you, Paul Martin Freeman, merely suggest because that’s all there is to do. Fine technique in these short poems.
Thank you for both your kind comments, Margaret. I, too, noticed, last night that your first one had disappeared. But it’s back this morning––at least as I write this!
Thank you for your careful analysis of the second poem. With no problems with the rhymes, both of them pretty much wrote themselves. So it’s encouraging to know that whoever was in charge that day knew what they were doing!
Credit for finding and restoring the lost comment belongs to Mike Bryant. Be sure to appeal to him about anything that actually posts and goes missing! When the reply mechanism won’t let you post, that’s when a different comment may bring both of them up to post. Glad I could say a little more about these two poems.
Thank you, Margaret. You’re very kind. You write from such a such a store of experience it’s a privilege getting a comment from you.
These are both really good. My favorite lines are “The world, they fear, is changing fast before them,/And what she stood for soon will disappear.” It seems to me that the world is changing fast, and what she stood for is rapidly disappearing.
Even here on the other side of the Atlantic, we mourned Queen Elizabeth; the flag was flown at half mast when she died. Americans generally find the concept of a monarchy strange, but I think the fact that we feel as we do about another country’s queen speaks to the inherent dignity of the position.
You might like Susan’s poem on the same subject: https://classicalpoets.org/2022/09/08/a-poem-on-the-passing-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-for-my-queen-by-susan-jarvis-bryant/
Hello, Joshua. Thank you for your comment and the link to Susan’s poem.
The late Queen was special in all kinds of ways. One was that she knew to keep out of politics. When President Trump asked her who her favourite prime minster was, suggesting Churchill, she said she had liked them all. She answered the same way about the US presidents she had known.
I think she was partly helped in this by the fact that she came to the role as a very young woman. By contrast, her son has been king-in-waiting for decades during which time he has interested himself in all kinds of things, inevitably becoming identified with certain causes
The inherent dignity of the position, it seems to me, can only be maintained if the monarch is not subject to ridicule and satire. Queen Elizabeth largely avoided that, certainly in her later years. King Charles has not been so lucky.