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He raised hell and broke windows, and even worse”
A rash, unruly, haughty aristocrat.
If so, so what? He wrote the first blank verse
And some of our first sonnets. And if that
Were not enough to put us in his debt
Deeply and forever, he gave us more.
He saw to it that we should not forget
His staunch young squire, Thomas Clere, who bore
The miseries of battle with his lord
In Scotland and in France, where to be brave
Was to risk everything”and his reward?
An elegy to justify his grave,
Praise for his loyalty these five hundred years,
And, rarest of all attributes, strangers’ tears.

”Robert Mezey

Dear Reader,

You have a decision to make: double or nothing.

For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.

In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.

So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?

Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
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