Villanelle for Anne Boleyn

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

Related Post

13 thoughts on “Villanelle for Anne Boleyn”
  1. 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.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *