Feelings of a French Royalist
On The Disinterment Of The Remains Of The Duke D'enghien
Feelings of a French Royalist - context Summary
Disinterment of Duke D'enghien
Written in response to the disinterment of the Duke d'Enghien, the poem mourns a wronged prince and uses that event to condemn public hypocrisy and misplaced reverence. Wordsworth addresses the exhumed remains as evidence that truth may speak from the grave, insisting justice was intended but often thwarted by human institutions. The tone mixes grief, moral outrage, and a bleak recognition that divine retribution is frequently restrained.
Read Complete AnalysesDEAR Reliques! from a pit of vilest mould Uprisen--to lodge among ancestral kings; And to inflict shame's salutary stings On the remorseless hearts of men grown old In a blind worship; men perversely bold Even to this hour,--yet, some shall now forsake Their monstrous Idol if the dead e'er spake, To warn the living; if truth were ever told By aught redeemed out of the hollow grave: O murdered Prince! meek, loyal, pious, brave! The power of retribution once was given: But 'tis a rueful thought that willow bands So often tie the thunder-wielding hands Of Justice sent to earth from highest Heaven!
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