Orbler
Byron Twain
Brenton
Dexter
Jeanne Dininni
Shilpa KarhikElizabeth I
April 12th 2006 04:20
I'm going to make an effort to feature a good number of female poets in this blog, though it's a lot harder to find good uncopyrighted poems by women, since many of the most popular are also quite recent, and many of the older ones are relatively unknown.
But one who will be known to everyone is Queen Elizabeth I. She was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. She never married, despite the parliament insisting she did so when she nearly died of smallpox, because they were concerned that there would be civil war upon her death if she didn't produce an heir. But she was stubborn, and not only refused to marry but also refused to nominate an heir. Though she had a reputation for being flirtatious she was also very indecisive, and more than one of her poems express regret for having turned lovers away when she was "young and fair". It was rumoured that she was in love with the earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, whom she couldn't have, and so wouldn't have anyone else, or perhaps she simply didn't want to share her power with another. Whatever her reason for never marrying, her poetry makes it clear that she was not as hardhearted or detached as she might have appeared. The following poem was written when Elizabeth was in her mid-thirties.
ON MONSIEUR'S DEPARTURE
by Elizabeth I
I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned.
My care is like my shadow in the sun,
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.
His too familiar care doth make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till by the end of things it be supprest.
Some gentler passion slide into my mind,
For I am soft and made of melting snow;
Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.
Let me or float or sink, be high or low.
Or let me live with some more sweet content,
Or die and so forget what love ere meant.
But one who will be known to everyone is Queen Elizabeth I. She was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. She never married, despite the parliament insisting she did so when she nearly died of smallpox, because they were concerned that there would be civil war upon her death if she didn't produce an heir. But she was stubborn, and not only refused to marry but also refused to nominate an heir. Though she had a reputation for being flirtatious she was also very indecisive, and more than one of her poems express regret for having turned lovers away when she was "young and fair". It was rumoured that she was in love with the earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, whom she couldn't have, and so wouldn't have anyone else, or perhaps she simply didn't want to share her power with another. Whatever her reason for never marrying, her poetry makes it clear that she was not as hardhearted or detached as she might have appeared. The following poem was written when Elizabeth was in her mid-thirties.
ON MONSIEUR'S DEPARTURE
by Elizabeth I
I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned.
My care is like my shadow in the sun,
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.
His too familiar care doth make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till by the end of things it be supprest.
Some gentler passion slide into my mind,
For I am soft and made of melting snow;
Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.
Let me or float or sink, be high or low.
Or let me live with some more sweet content,
Or die and so forget what love ere meant.
Elizabeth I
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Comment by Lia
Thomas Wyatt was apparently deeply in love with Anne Bolyn, forever thwarted when Henry married her- therefore inspiring some memorable sonnets.
His poetic successor Edmund Spenser was later infatuated with Anne and Henry's daughter (Elizabeth I) and wrote many more verses on the futile pursuit of the 'deare hart'.
And then we got Shakespeare...
Comment by Loviatar
Comment by Sara
Comment by Loviatar