Axis & Allies - damowords

The House of Bounaparte
The childless Josephine weeps for her life
Tempestuous as stormslash Vallombrosan
& now her husband takes another wife,
Some chubby, buck‐faced princess Austian;
For seven years
Her table reignʹd supreme
Drying her noble tears she toasts the dying dream.
From Holland & Etruria
To the states of Germany,
The Zenith of an emporer,
Brash nadir of majesty,
Both Madrid & Westphalia
Ruled by his family,
& now the heir is born, the King of Rome,
But looking at those hairs upon his comb,
He knew that he might conquer kings
But never conquer time,
The flutterings of eagle wings
Drown out the churchy chime ‐
Bells welcoming the evening like a Languedoccan rhyme.
Paris
1811
A New Frontier
Scarlet redcoats arrive in Portugal
Securing Lisbonʹs laughter & treasure,
Alas! events unfold here typical
Tribute to bungled British half‐measure;
Until Wellingtonʹs
Rising reputation
Joins these celebrations of conflagaration.
The French forces now wedged between
The hammer & the anvil
The first fighting for King & Queen
From Galway, Leeds, Laargs & Rhyll,
The latter battle forth unseen
Darting from kill to kill ‐
This daring, dashing Spanish guerrilla
Or these fearless Portuguese militia.
From storming Badojozan walls
To wild Vimeiro,
Wellesley controls the hapless Gauls,
Iberian hero,
Securing Salamanca lets him cross the Ebro flow.
Spain
1811