Sonnet To George The Fourth

On The Repeal Of Lord Edward Fitzgerald’s Forfeiture

To be the father of the fatherless, To stretch the hand from the throne’s height, and raise His offspring, who expired in other days To make thy sire’s sway by a kingdom less,– This is to be a monarch, and repress Envy into unutterable praise. Dismiss thy guard, and trust thee to such traits, For who would lift a hand, except to bless? Were it not easy, sir, and is’t not sweet To make thyself beloved? and to be Omnipotent by mercy’s means? for thus Thy sovereignty would grow but more complete: A despot thou, and yet thy people free, And by the heart, not hand, enslaving us.