A Metrical History of England Or, Recollections, in Rhyme, Of some of the most prominent Features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Caesar to the Commencement of the Regency, in 1812. In Two Volumes ... By Thomas Dibdin |
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 | A Metrical History of England |  |
Vic'try continues on the French to smile,
And we lose Talbot and the valiant Lisle:
Now York and Lancaster with fury glow,
And Roses, red and white, alternate blow.
York heads St. Alban's battle, and the King,
Wounded, defeated, and in rebel hands,
Begins, as Avon's swan doth sweetly sing,
To envy peasants on his humblest lands.
The Duke of York protector they create,
And on a thread depends King Henry's fate;
Next year the new protector is displaced,
And Henry, once more, with dominion graced:
Now mark a strange reverse, the Frenchmen land
At Sandwich, fifteen thousand from their band
In Devonshire and Cornwal too, to make
Reprisals on old England they begin,
And unprotected spoil they burn or take;
Thus have we war without, and war within.
York, at Bloreheath, in sanguinary fight,
Depress'd the red rose, to exalt the white;
At Ludlow battle Henry's fortune led,
To crush the white and elevate the red;
Northampton's contest turns the scale again,
A fatal field to Harry and his reign.
When treacherous Ruthyn, most disloyal Grey,
Deserting, changed the fortune of the day,
The King again is prisoner, and the crown
Decreed to pass to York's descendants down;
But martial Margaret, on Wakefield's plains,
Her husband's honor manfully regains;
York, late triumphant, fierce defeat appals,
And crimsoned o'er, “the white rose leader falls.”
Edward his son his better fortune tries,
And fickle vict'ry from Henry flies;
The Queen again essays the doubtful field,
And now once more the white rose banners yield.
This second battle of St. Alban's fought,
Redeem'd the captive King, but still it brought
No true advantage:—London chose to name
Edward of York their Sovereign, he came:
The shadow only of poor Hal remain'd,
Who from this time in substance never reigned.
After events which Edward's life will tell,
By crooked Gloucester's sword King Henry fell.
A man, tho' weak, of pious, blameless life,
Foil'd by his friends, and governed by his wife;
The last a foible you may often see
In other folks besides him, you, or me.
Eaton and Cambridge each a College owe
To Henry's bounty. Of no man the foe,
Unless it were himself, He deemed each woe
He suffered here, correction kindly sent
From Heaven, in lieu of future punishment,
A gracious earnest given to insure
Him bliss, where bliss can only long endure.
And we lose Talbot and the valiant Lisle:
Now York and Lancaster with fury glow,
And Roses, red and white, alternate blow.
York heads St. Alban's battle, and the King,
Wounded, defeated, and in rebel hands,
Begins, as Avon's swan doth sweetly sing,
To envy peasants on his humblest lands.
The Duke of York protector they create,
And on a thread depends King Henry's fate;
Next year the new protector is displaced,
And Henry, once more, with dominion graced:
Now mark a strange reverse, the Frenchmen land
At Sandwich, fifteen thousand from their band
In Devonshire and Cornwal too, to make
Reprisals on old England they begin,
And unprotected spoil they burn or take;
Thus have we war without, and war within.
York, at Bloreheath, in sanguinary fight,
Depress'd the red rose, to exalt the white;
At Ludlow battle Henry's fortune led,
To crush the white and elevate the red;
293
A fatal field to Harry and his reign.
When treacherous Ruthyn, most disloyal Grey,
Deserting, changed the fortune of the day,
The King again is prisoner, and the crown
Decreed to pass to York's descendants down;
But martial Margaret, on Wakefield's plains,
Her husband's honor manfully regains;
York, late triumphant, fierce defeat appals,
And crimsoned o'er, “the white rose leader falls.”
Edward his son his better fortune tries,
And fickle vict'ry from Henry flies;
The Queen again essays the doubtful field,
And now once more the white rose banners yield.
This second battle of St. Alban's fought,
Redeem'd the captive King, but still it brought
No true advantage:—London chose to name
Edward of York their Sovereign, he came:
The shadow only of poor Hal remain'd,
Who from this time in substance never reigned.
After events which Edward's life will tell,
By crooked Gloucester's sword King Henry fell.
294
Foil'd by his friends, and governed by his wife;
The last a foible you may often see
In other folks besides him, you, or me.
Eaton and Cambridge each a College owe
To Henry's bounty. Of no man the foe,
Unless it were himself, He deemed each woe
He suffered here, correction kindly sent
From Heaven, in lieu of future punishment,
A gracious earnest given to insure
Him bliss, where bliss can only long endure.
Queen Margaret founded Queen's College, Cambridge; Archbishop Chicheley, All Souls and Bernard's College, Oxon; and Wainfleet, Bishop of Winchester, founded Magdalen College there.
To a Ruffian who struck him in the face, while prisoner, he only said, “Forsooth you do wrong to strike your anointed King;” and when some ladies appeared at a masque with their necks apparelled too much like our modern fashion, he exclaimed with characteristic simplicity, “Fie, fie, for shame—in sooth you are to blame.”
| A Metrical History of England | |