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50 KIPLING'S SUSSEX
attended" for her honour and undertake a voyage to Florida to keep an eye on Philip of Spain's ships and :
"... pass into eclipse, Her kiss upon their lips— Even Belphoebe's, whom they gave their lives for."
Consider the way Kipling brings out all the daring contradictions, all the great possibilities, all the weaknesses, all the cruelty of Elizabeth as she tells the children how she danced Philip of Spain out of a brand-new kingdom at Brickwall Hall.
Kipling does not write about the less amiable side of Elizabeth, but the story " Gloriana " casts a shadow which tells us that there is a certain meanness in her character in spite of all, and we at once hark back to her jealousy, which was a mania with her. So great was this that no young cavalier was ever supposed to have the right to make a marriage for love ; it was felt to be a derogation from that idolatry of the Queen which she claimed as a monopoly. That is why Leicester had to keep quiet his marriage with Amy Robsart, and perhaps also, to sanction her burial in a tomb as well as in a castle. Raleigh dared to fall in love and to marry Elizabeth Throgmorton. This |
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