TO CHARLES V OF AUSTRIA AND SPAIN

Since this particular stanza of a poem by Eliza Cook reminded me of Charles V's retirement to Yuste and his eternal resting place at El Escorial, I have decided to consecrate it to the Habsburg Kaiser who marked a century fighting wars, taking care of affairs of state, and that without renouncing to the finest things in life. Yet he was a common mortal like the rest of us:

Lay the one great and rich in the strong cloister niche, 
Give him his coffin of cedar and gold; 
Let the wild torchlight fall, flouting the velvet pall, 
Lock him in marble vault, darksome and cold.