Said Beauchamp Tower To

St Peter ad Vincula Chapel

Like a sick tongue
she strolled

from my arches
in a white dress

to kneel and pray
herself to death.

In your shadow and his -
the man from Calais in Black

leather with his sharp
double edged sword.

Don’t interrupt! You’ve told me
182,500 times already.

She said, Good day, Sir.
to her executioner. I guess happy

to see him. A symbolic last
kindness from Henry 8 - wasn’t it?

Oh, peace!

You couldn’t have liked all that
disembowelling, quartering, axe hacking

and fuss? You’re the
God-fearing one. Stop being silly.

So swift it was!

Her lips giving glory
to God without a heart

or steepled hands to animate
those wishes. You have to respect

miracles born of mercy. What still
bother’s me, dear, is if

Henry loved the Spanish woman
and Anne disliked Francis 1

why request the fancy French death?


Note:
Queen Anne Boleyn feared the axe. So, she requested execution in the "French Manner" (with a sword.) King Henry VIII, granted that request. There were many political tensions between Spain, France and England, many of which Henry tried to resolve through marriage contracts between Boleyn's daughter to the future King of France. The marriage of her daughter to France would have cemented the child's precarious social position.

Legend has it that Queen Anne Boleyn prayed as she was being beheaded. When the executioner picked up her head to display it to the crowd, her lips were still moving.

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