Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

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,

We launched the First Things 2023 Year-End Campaign to keep articles like the one you just read free of charge to everyone.

Measured in dollars and cents, this doesn't make sense. But consider who is able to read First Things: pastors and priests, college students and professors, young professionals and families. Last year, we had more than three million unique readers on firstthings.com.

Informing and inspiring these people is why First Things doesn't only think in terms of dollars and cents. And it's why we urgently need your year-end support.

Will you give today?

Make My Gift