A Metrical History of England :: :: University of Virginia Library

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

Dibdin, Thomas (1771-1841)

II.

RICHARD III. surnamed CROOKBACK.

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[Old probity, I mean Sir Thomas More]

Old probity, I mean Sir Thomas More,
Of manners artless, simple, yet not rude,
With Fisher, adds to victims named before.
Sir Thomas at the block with firmness spoke,
And dying virtue shrunk not from a joke.

France and the Pope in due respect were kept,
For Henry's military power ne'er slept;

The famed six articles proposed a creed,
For which both Protestants and Romans bleed.
Barton, the visionary maid of Kent,
With many followers to the scaffold went.

With all his faults, the King promoted knowledge,
At Cambridge, Trinity the monarch founded;
Wolsey gave Oxford Christchurch College,
And England's Court by learning was surrounded.

Talking of learning, let's have piu poco;
Well, dulce est desipere in loco.
And if you'll but allow nunc est ridendum,
I'll take my graver muscles and unbend 'em.

In quitting Hal, forgive me if I dare
Suppose the fubsy monarch in his chair,
On former wives and sweethearts much intent,
On future wives and sweethearts sadly bent;

Humming, scarce consciously, in accent pretty,
A retrospective amatory ditty;
Anachronasm marks the tune, 'tis true,
But if I find no fault, pray why should you?

He desired the Lieutenant of the Tower to see him safe up to the scaffold, and leave him, at coming down, to shift for himself.

“The King's persecution of the Lutherans was savage and inexorable:—at Coventry, six men and a woman were burnt for teaching their children the Lord's Prayer, Commandments, &c. in the vulgar tongue.” J.P. Andrews.