Villanelle for Anne Boleyn
Posted By Claire on February 25, 2011
Anne Boleyn Files visitor, Jennifer Morrison, has written a beautiful poem about Anne Boleyn which she wanted to share with everyone here:-
Villanelle for Anne Boleyn
Circa regna tonat—her echo,
Faint beneath the sound of sword to bone:
Defiled is my name full sore
Through cruel spite and false report;
Twice postponed, not yet past her pains.
Circa regna tonat, a mother’s tear
At a daughter’s loss, at the crownless
Bastard daughter of a bastard
king. Defiled is my name full sore—
But not cowed. Not cowed.
Thankfully, Master Kingston, I have a little neck–
Her nervous laugh, circa regna tonat,
Wrapped in red and ermine.
Unto my fame a mortal wound—
Defiled is my name full sore,
But every inch a queen.
For wrongly ye judge of me—
Defiled is my name full sore,
Her echo, circa regna tonat.
~by Jennifer Morrison
That’s excellent, I love it!
That’s so good.
‘around the throne, the thunder roars’
love it!
a wonderful tribute to one of the most enigmatic and unforgettable women in history.
Beautiful. Good writers are like painters with words,
Fabulous 🙂 <3
It’s so good because it’s taken from Wyatt’s poem which also repeats these lines!
Beautiful poem; it got under my skin, and I LOVE when writing does that.
This sounds contemporaneous to Anne Boleyn, which is the best compliment I can make. Great work, Jen!! The beautiful Anne was beautiful inside as well as outside. Like Mary Queen of Scots, for one other, she did not deserve to die so ingloriously; she was but a pawn in a much bigger game. (N.B.: I first learned about Anne Boleyn from the books of Thomas Costain, which supplemented my Bachelor’s degree in English Lit. from New York University.)
That’s gorgeous!
It was wonderful!!!!!!
A very lovely poem. Thanks for sharing.
I loved it. Anne deserves such beautiful poetry as this! Both she and Thomas Wyatt would approve I think..
Love that you use words from the Wyatt poem–and love that form!