The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-03-04
THE CORONATION PAGEANT
OF ANNE BOLEYN

however it passed UNDECIDED. Those eyes
We're watching all for another object,
which now drew near. In an open space,
preaching "a white chariot drawn by
two palfreys in white damask which swept
the ground, a golden canopy borne above
1t making music with silver bells. and IN
the chariot sat the observed OF all OBJ
servers, the beautiful occasion Of all this
glittering homage; fortunes plaything OF
the hour, the queen OF England-queen at
last! Borne along upon the waves of this
sea Of glory, breathing the perfumed in
cense Of greatness which she had disked
her fair name, her delicacy, her honor.
her self respect, to win; and she had
won 1t.
There she sat, dressed in white tissue
robes, her fair hair flowing loose over her
shoulders, and her temples circles with a.
light coronet OF gold and diamonds-most
Observation-Disclosures favored, perhaps
as she semed at hat hour, Of all Eng
lands daughters. Alas! within the hol-
low round of that coronet-
Kept Death his court, and there the an
tick safe
Soothing her state and grinning at her
pOmp;
Allowing her a little breath, a little scene
To monarchiZe, be feared, and kill with
1nfusing her with self and vain conceit.
AS If in the flesh which walled about her
Were brass impregnable; and humored
Bored thro' her castle walls; and farewell.
Queen!
Fatal gift of greatness! so dangerous
ever! SO more dangerous in those tremend-
Gus times when the fountains are broken
loose of the great depths of thought, and
nations are in the throes Of revolutions
when ancient order and law and traditions
n rn cyJftf{no IN tho eoo{o1 ~, a,1
as the opposing forces wrestle to and fro.
those unhappy ones who stand out above,
the crowd become the symbols Of the
struggle, and fall the victims of its alter
mating fortunes. And what IL into an I'M.
steady heart and brain. intoxicated with
s%plendor, the chaos should find It's
way, converting the poor silly soul into
an image of the same confusion-if con-
science should be disposed from her hfRh
place., and the Pandora box be broken
loose Of passions and se%nsualities and fol-
lies; and at length there be nothing left of
all which man or woman ought to value.
save hope Of God forgiveness.
Three short years have yet to pass. and
again. on a summer morning, Queen Anne
Boleyn will leave the tower of London
not radiant then with beauty on a gay err
rand OF coronation. but a poor, wandering
ghost. on a sad, tragic errand. from which
she will never more return, passing away
out Of an earth where she may stay no
longer, into a presence where, neyerthe-
less, we know that all is well-for all OF
us-and therefore for her.
Did any twinge of remorse, any panR OF
painful recollection. pierce at that mo-
ment the incense OF glory which she was
inhaling? Did any vision fit across her
Of a sad, mourning figures which once
had stood where she was standing, now
desosate, neglected. sinking into the dark
ening twilight Of a life cut short by sor-
row? Who can tell? At such a time. that
figure would have weighed heavily upon a
noble mind. and q wise mind would have
been taught by the thought OF 1t, that. al
though life be fleeing as a dream. It is
long enough to experience strange yic1s-
STUDIES OF fortune.
But Anne Boleyn was not noble and was
not wise-too probably she felt nothing but
the delicious. all absorbing, all intoxicat-
ing present; and IL that plain, suffering
face presented itself to her memory at ali,
we may fear that it was rather as a foil
to her own surprising loneliness. Two
years later she was able to exult over
katharine's death; she is not likely to
have thought of her with gentler feelings
IN the first glow and flush OF triumph.