A Writer's Wonderland [PDF] - University of Portsmouth

A Humble Vow.
I
I kneel at his feet and beg for mercy,
Beg him to see his humble, loyal Queen.
I bid him to rid the whore from his eye.
Holding myself steady, I keep his gaze.
I search his hard eyes, his wrinkling face for
His cherub cheeks, and his youthful smile.
He is an old King, a desperate man
Without an heir. He is a King bewitched.
I say to him and I say to the court,
‘I take God to witness that I have been
A true, modest and obedient wife...
I take God to be my judge, I came to
You as a true maid, without touch of man!’
I beg him for my honour, for our daughter.
I see his men, indifferent to my cause,
Talk amongst each other, shuffle papers.
Henry plays with the rings on his fingers,
I can see the grief, the guilt in his eye -
I must force it into his loyal heart!
Lauren Smith
Third year Creative Writing and Film Studies student.
82
I can see the grief, the guilt in his eye -
I must force it into his loyal heart!
He shows no interest. He sees only lust.
I rise and I stride from this corrupt court.
They beckon me; they summon me but my
Ladies drown their cries with adoring cheers.
I stride from the court and do not look back.
II
I have never known such pain as I have
Since I have stepped foot on English soil.
I have always done what was bid of me.
I have always been the docile puppet
At the mercy of men who have too much
Power, and don’t know what to do with it.
I married into this family once
Before for an alliance between men.
I married the young Prince Arthur when
We were only children – aged just sixteen.
We slept side by side seven times, to no avail,
before the sweating sickness came.
The Prince and I fought for our lives in Wales,