Wk 2, Sem 1, Yr 3
Queen Elizabeth's poem, 'On Monsier's Departure' left me dead in my tracks. The feelings and thoughts that she expresses seemed to perfectly mirror one of my experiences. I couldn't believe how well she explained the unexplainable - that inner battle, the conflicting thoughts and the regrets. Which then prompted me to research a few other of her poems. One hit wonder or not i thought? My discoveries were satisfying! Not discounting the fact that she was a great ruler, her poems are but another way of proving she was a very wise person.
Textless, I used the internet to find more of her work. The first poem of hers i looked at is more of a statement, something one would write in their commonplace book, but nonetheless touching, especially considering she was under house arrest at the time of writing. Held under arrest at Woodstock, Queen Elizabeth was forbidden contact with her family and was kept under close watch. Not having proper access to writing tools, she used a diamond (!!!) to inscribe into a window....:
Much suspected by me,
Nothing proved can be,
Quoth ELIZABETH prisoner.
2 lines, 8 words - that hold so much meaning and significance considering the pressure and stress she was under at that point in time.
Yet another of one her works of art was a poem that she inscribed into the back of her psalter, which she then gave to either her servant or friend before Nov 17, 1558. Below is the image of the psalter and the poem.
No crooked leg, no bleared eye,
No part deformed out of kind,1
Nor yet so ugly half can be
As is the inward,2 suspicious mind.
Your loving mistress,
Elizabeth
