The Kings and Queens of England with Other Poems | Page 2

used in his reign,?And the battle of Cressy of great note and fame,?To their introduction has the right to lay claim.?The knights of the Garter, first made in his reign?In honor it seems of a fair English dame,?The Duchess of Salisbury to whom it is said,?From Edward peculiar attentions were paid.?Of Richard the second we have little to say,?And take up the fourth Henry, the next on our way,?Who reigned fourteen years, when death cut him down?And left his good Kingdom to Henry his son;?But ere nine years had past, the fifth Henry was borne?To the region of darkness from whence none return.?The next reign is full of commotion and strife,?And Henry the sixth is seen flying for life;?For though King of England, we cannot but see?He's but the shadow of a king--that should be;?And during the thirty-nine years that he reigned?His crown and his sceptre were feebly retained.?It was in this reign on her mission intent,?That Joan of Arc to the battle field went:?The French troops were elated, the English dismayed?At the wonderful victories achieved by her aid;?At length fortune turns, and 'tis needless to tell?Of the fate of this maiden--it is all known too well.?Of Edward the fourth it seems proper to say?That he fancied Dame Shore, when wed to Bess Gray.?But the fate of Jane Shore, should be warning to all?Who from love, or ambition, are tempted to fall.?When Edward the fourth departed this earth,?He left two little sons, both Royal by birth;?But ere three years had pass'd, both met with their doom,?By a most cruel uncle, cut down in their bloom?Of youth, love, and beauty, and laid in the tomb.?King Edward the fifth was the eldest one's name,?Though never permitted by his uncle to reign.?Next comes cruel Richard, the third of that name,?Whose vices surpassing put others to shame.?When unhorsed in battle, he's so anxious to live,?That he cries "for a horse, my kingdom I'll give."?But in the same battle he had his last fall--?Lamented by none, but detested by all.?In the next reign the wars of the roses, all ended,?And the red rose and white, forever were blended;?For when Henry the seventh took Bessy his bride,?The knot of the roses forever was tied;?And when the sceptre descended from father to son,?The red and the white leaves all mingled in one.?King Henry the eighth had quite a long reign?Mixed up with his Anne's, his Katy's and Jane.?But from this King we turn with disgust and with shame,?And greet with delight, the sixth Edward by name.?But only six years did this King fill the throne,?When called to resign it and lay his crown down.?A worthier we think, has never set?On the throne of Great Britain--at least not as yet.?With pleasure we love to contemplate him now,?With a bright crown of Glory, encircling his brow,?In the region of light, love, peace, and of joy,?Where pleasures eternal can have no alloy.?Sin, sickness, and death, never find entrance there,?For the air is all balm, and the skies ever fair;?The clouds of his young life have all passed away?And he enjoys the full light of an endless day--?For all who find footing on that peaceful shore,?Shall hunger, and thirst, and sorrow no more.?But once more we return to this "dim speck of earth,"?And revisit the clime that gave Edward his birth.?Bloody Mary his sister, next mounted the throne,?But when five years had pass'd, was obliged to lay down,?Notwithstanding reluctance, her Sceptre and Crown.?For death to whom she had sent many a one,?Now called for his victim, and made her his own.?Not by fire_ and by _faggot_ was _she hurried away,?But by painful sickness and loathsome decay.?Now commences the reign of the "Good Queen Bess,"?But why_ she's called _good I never could guess:?Yet justice constrains me to allow in the main,?That her's was a glorious and most prosperous reign.?She had the good sense to know whom to admit?To her private councils, as men the most fit;?And by their advice, good sense and discretion,?She managed with fitness to govern the nation.?As a Queen she seems great, though weak as a woman,?And when praised as a Goddess, was no more than human;?At the age of threescore, she loved to be compared?As a beauty to Venus, though crook'd and red haired.?Of lovers she had full many a one,?Who sought, through her hand, a pass to the throne,?But chose to remain single; for full well she knew,?That in giving her hand, she gave away her power too.?In this reign we find ineffacible blots,?In the treatment of Essex, and Mary of Scots;?The death of the former, the Queen sorely repents,?And for her lost Essex she deeply laments.?The remorse of a Countess, in keeping his ring,?I leave to some rhymer, more able to sing.?Next James sixth of Scotland, first of England became--?In peace and security permitted to reign.?In