At the Passing of a Lady

We've never known a time when she was not -
Even elder brothers and sisters were tots
When she ascended to the throne
In a time gone by so far from home.

After poverty and war did she take over
From her torn father who succeeded his brother.
She vowed that she would not be the one
To doom the British crown which she had won.

Stability and grace were watchwords then
And always did she keep them to the end,
But now three score and ten years hence
She's gone.

Surely the inevitable 
Cannot be so incredible,
But even so we whisper, "How can it be
That she who reigned for an eternity
Is gone?"

She has gone the way all flesh must go
And by now, the whole world must know
A queen has died, an age has passed
Though forever indeed it seemed to last.

Let us now pause and mourn
The passing of our Lady, born
So long ago and far away
Yet over each heart held sway.

Pray her soul will meet and she will seal
A place at table for the sacred Meal
To feast on Him
Who saves from sin.

So, what about us? Will we have done
As she did, second to none
In royal servitude? What is our attitude,
We dwellers of these estates so crude?

Learn from her and emulate
The royal bearer of such grace.
And constancy in a time of change
From good to worse, so bitter is the age.

Remember her grace and stability
And emulate her ability 
To see it through both thick and thin
Until we, too, will enter in
To the reward
for servants of the Lord.

Author: Lawrence B. Wheeler

B.A., M.Div. Former Anglican priest, convert to Orthodoxy. View all posts by Lawrence B. Wheeler