Renowned More, whose bloody Fate – Modernized Edition

Renowned More,¹Thomas More (1478-1535), the great-great grandfather of Gertrude More and a well-known author, politician, and saint executed under Henry VIII. whose bloody Fate
England ne’er²Never. yet could expiate,
Such was thy constant Faith, so much
Thy Hope, thy Charity was such
As made thee twice a Martyr prove,³Marginal note: Sir Thom[as] More.
Of Faith in Death, in Life of Love!
View here thy Grandchild’s broken Heart
Wounded with a Seraphic⁴Angelic. Dart,
Who while she lived mortals among
Thus, to her Spouse Divine, she sung,
Mirror⁵The italics from this line onward may indicate that the remainder of the poem was written by Gertrude More herself. of Beauty in Whose Face
The essence lives of every Grace!
True luster⁶Soft glow. dwells in thy sole sphere,
Those glimmerings that sometimes appear
In this dark vale, this gloomy night,
Are shadows tipped with glowworm light.
Show me thy radiant parts above,
Where Angels unconsumed move,
Where amorous⁷Loving. fire maintains their lives,
As man, by breathing Air, survives.
But, if perchance⁸Perhaps. the mortal eye
That views thy dazzling looks must die,
With blind faith here I’ll kiss them & desire
To feel the heat, before I see the fire.