Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Two Poems for Anne Boleyn

I mentioned last night that I'm fascinated with Anne Boleyn. I've written many poems about her.

Here are two:

Queen Anne Lack-head
previously known as
the Happiest of Women



For Anne

Never naive, but nonetheless a pawn
buffeted by a tide of rising family fortunes
and the caprice of an absolute monarch in a midlife crisis

Raised to "the king's own sweetheart"
wife and queen
the happiest of women

But there were some who rose with her
resenting
that they could use but not control her
biting back retorts to her clever jibes

They didn't object as she was plunged into a maelstrom
of lies and manipulation
Arrest, sham trial, guilty verdict and execution

It was the king's will
Hadn't he once said that he who could raise her so high, could also drop her so low?

In that, he was as good as his word.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Lynne,

    I run a website called On the Tudor Trail dedicated to researching and documenting buildings still standing today that Anne Boleyn visited in her lifetime.

    It is also a space for sharing information about the Tudor monarchs and
    daily life in Tudor England, a place to discuss the ways in which the
    lives of historical figures from half a millennium ago still resonate
    powerfully with so many of us today.

    I have a section where I publish poems and short stories about Anne called 'Remembering Anne' you should submit some of you poems.

    Here is the link to my site:
    http://onthetudortrail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Natalie for your comment. I look forward to spending time on your site.

    ReplyDelete