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.
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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