Courtiers bending before him, envoys from near and far,
Sat in his Hall of Audience Ivan the Terrible Tsar,
(He of the knout and torture, poison and sword and flame)
Yet unafraid before him the English envoy came.
And he was Sir Jeremy Bowes, born of that golden time
When in the soil of Conquest blossomed the flower of Rhyme.
Dauntless he fronted the Presence,--and the courtiers whispered low,
"Doth Elizabeth send us madmen, to tempt the torture so?"
"Have you heard of that foolhardy Frenchman?" Ivan the Terrible said,--
"He came before me covered,--I nailed his hat to his head."
Then spoke Sir Jeremy Bowes, "I serve the Virgin Queen,--
Little is she accustomed to vail her face, I ween.
"She is Elizabeth Tudor, mighty to bless or to ban,
Nor doth her envoy give over at the bidding of any man!
"Call to your Cossacks and hangmen,--do with me what ye please,
But ye shall answer to England when the news flies over seas."
Ivan smiled on the envoy,--the courtiers saw that smile,
Glancing one at the other, holding their breath the while.
Then spoke the terrible Ivan, "His Queen sits over sea,
Yet he hath bid me defiance,--would ye do as much for me?"
XVI
LORDS OF ROANOKE
Primrose garlands in Coombe Wood shone with the pale gold of winter
sunshine.
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