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REIGNS

IN

RHYMES

THE REIGNS FROV i-I CONQUEST

IN RHYMES FOR A CHILD. By

WILLIAM KNIGHT, M.A.CAXNTAP..

M.A. TASMAN., & OF LINCOLN'S INN

BARRISTER-AT-LAW.

LONDON
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd.
1897

To baby Katharine (singing):-
Thou, vocal with no voice articulate,
But tuneful as the fabled fairy bell,
To make thy firmament in rhythmic swell
With throbs of otherwhere reverberate .
0 lovely one whose soul is animate
With harmony that formeth by her spell
To mnrnmur, like the murmuring of a shell,
Unspoken mysteries of the Infinite.
For from the orbs a mystic efluence,
Comes echoing aery through the vast immense,'
And, palfitant of memories from the year,
Within the holies' holiest of the sense
May wake a spirit unto prescience,
As oft as Echo answering inly stirs.

1066--- 1087

WILLIAM I

The Norman William came to Hastings' strand,
And conquered Harold, Sovereign of the land
He made the Curfew and the Domesday Book,
And for his hunting the New Forest took.

o087 ---- 1oo

WILLIAM II

Then William Rufus did the Kingdom gain,
Who was by Tyrrel in New Forest slain.

1i oo-- 1135

HENRY I

Next Henry, who the name of Beauclerk bore
For children sunk at sea he sorrowed sore.

"I35-- 54

STEPHEN

His nephew Stephen seized upon the Crown:
With wars the land was wasted up and down.

SI54 --- 1189

HENRY II

The second Henry wrought A'Beckett's doom.
But paid a penance at the martyr's tomb ;
He under England's Crown did Ireland bring.
And of Plantagenets the first was King.

1189----I99

RICHARD I

Then Richard Cceur de Lion-Heart so Brave-
Who went the Holy Sepulchre to save,
Was pent in Austria on his homeward way
In Trifels Tower, but Blondel heard his lay.
In Sherwood Forest famous Robin Hood,
An outlaw, all the Sheriffs power withstood.

99--- 1216

JOHN

In Arthur's stead his uncle John, to reign
Contriving, threw his body in the Seine.
John, Lackland ", when no land he did obtain,
Was Lackland soon, so much he lost again.
Compelled by powerful Barons in his need,
He Magna Charta made at Runnymede.

I216-- 1272

HENRY III

The third King Henry could not keep his word,
Till forced by brave de Montfort with the sword.

1272-- 1307

EDWARD I

By Edward Wales was added to the Crown,
And Scotland; still brave Bruce was not cast down.

1307--- 327

EDWARD II

The second Edward lost the land again,
And was in Berkeley Castle put to pain.

1327- 1377

EDWARD III

The third King Edward fought in France for years,
And victories gained at Crecy and Poitiers:
And Calais too was taken, but the Queen
Did for the burghers' safety intervene.
The hero of a hundred fights was dead-
The Black Prince; so his son inherited-

1377- 1399

RICHARD II

A second Richard. Wat the tyler rose:
'Twas Bolingbroke who did the King depose :

1399- 1413

HENRY IV

And reigned as fourth King Henry in his stead,
And Richard soon in Pontefract was dead.
The House of Lancaster with Henry came,
The Percies and Glendower disturbed the reign.
Prince Henry, who with Falstaff folly wrought,
At Shrewsbury againstt the rebels bravely fought.

413--1422

HENRY V

As fifth King Henry, he laid claim to Fcance,
And into Normandy he did advance,
At Agincourt a mighty victory gained
Against all odds, and Katharine's hand obtained.

1422- 1461

HENRY VI

His son, sixth Henry, triumphed o'er his foes,
Till Joan of Arc at Orleans arose.
The Wars of Roses in this reign began:
The White of York and Red Lancastrian.
Queen Margaret could not keep rebellion down :
Tne Duke of York was hailed in London Town.

146 1 14833

EDWARD IV

As fourth King Edward he began to reign,
And vanquished Warwick when he came again

33
1483

EDWARD V

The fifth King Edward, hardly come to power,
Was with his brother murdered in the Tower
By Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who conspireft,
And for himself the Sovereignty acquired-

1483- 1485

RICHARD III

Third Richard. Buckingham was fain to yield
But Richmond won the Crown on Bosworth Field-

1485- 1509

HENRY VII

Seventh Henry, who, of Lancaster the head,
Soon with Elizabeth of York did wed:
And so were ended, after thirty years,
The Roses Wars, and Tudor line appears.
As Warwick, Simnel sought the Kingly power,
And Warbeck, as young York, dead in the Tower.
His subjects Henry robbed by force and guile,
With Empson and with Dudley, servants vile,
Cabot of Bristol sailed into the West
And found a Continent-Columbus' quest.

39
1509 1547

HENRY VIII

The eighth King Henry six to wife did gain-
Three Katharines, two called Anne, another Jane.
The French the Battle of the Spurs did yield:
The flower of Scotland fell on Flodden Field.
Of France King Francis cured the quarrel old
With Henry on the Field of Cloth of Gold.
The Cardinal Wolsey rose to highest place,
But lost the favour of his Master's face.
The Reformation into England spread,
And Henry of the Church was called the Head.

1547- 1553

EDWARD VI

His son, sixth Edward. young to hold the helm,
Had Somerset Protector of the Realm.
The Act of Uniformity was passed,
And Somerset beheaded at the last.
The King successor in his sister's stead
Appointed Lady Jane. She lost her head.

1553-1558

MARY

For Mary triumphed, who, for conscience' sake,
Sent Latimer and Ridley to the stake,
And had for husband Philip, King of Spain;
Her heart the loss of Calais pierced with pain.

1558--1603

ELIZABETH

And great Elizabeth was Sovereign Lord,
Reformed Religion who again restored.
In France Reformers, peer and peasant, fell,
Bartholomew for thousands rang the knell;
But out of Nantes an Edict was addressed
By Henry of Navarre for those oppressed.
The Queen of Scots, o'erworn with long delay,
Was tried, and suffered death at Fotheringay.
Sir Francis Drake around the world did sail
With England's ensign, destined to prevail.
Virginia Raleigh planted o'er the seas,
Whose mantle made a way the Queen to please.
Immortal Sydney to a soldier gave
The drink they brought his dying lips to lave.
The King of Spain a great Armada sent,
But men and vessels to the bottom went;
And for the remnant that the tempest spared
Lord Howard and his sailors were prepared.
An age of wonders works of genius fired,
And Shakespeare glowed upon a stage inspired.
In vain did Leicester's Earl at Amy's fate
Connive; the Queen maintained her virgin state.

4;
1603 --1625

JAMES I

James, sixth of Scotland, first of England, King-
A Stuart-did the Realms together bring.
With powder Papists plot a vengeful blow,
But Guy was taken in the vaults below.
From pen and prison Raleigh went again,
But hapless sought Guiana's gold in vain.
As liberty of faith no more prevailed,
The Pilgrim Fathers in the Mlay Flower sailed.
To Spain the Prince with Buckingham did wend,
But wedded Henrietta in the end.

49
1625- 1649

CHARLES I

As Charles the First he, like his father lax,
Without the Parliament imposed the tax;
And after, when the great Rebellion burst,
At Nottingham he raised his standard first.
But, Newbury, Marston Moor, and Naseby lost.
The King surrendered to the Scottish host,
And, failing in a second Civil War,
Was tried, and death upon the block he bore.

5!
1649- 1660

THE COMMONWEALTH

The Commons chose a Council of the State;
In Ireland Cromwell did the strife abate;
The Prince, who came the contest to provoke,
At Worcester worsted, hid him in an oak.
The Dutchman sailed the seas with boastful pomp,
But Blake defeated Admiral Van Tromp.
To Cromwell as a title was assigned
" Protector ", and a son he left behind ;
But Monk the Members Pride put out put in:

I660- 1685

CHARLES II

And Charles the Second did from Breda win.
The Plague in London raged, and then the Fire;
The French Monarque aroused the Nations' ire ;
Base Titus Oates a Popish Plot pretends;
And Habeas Corpus liberty defends.

1685- 1689

JAMES II

The second James, to help the Papist cause,
In their behalf dispensed with penal laws.
Rebellion's standard Monmouth raised in vain:
At Sedgmoor, vanquished, he was prisoner ta'en.
The King Indulgence of Dissent declared,
And Bishops tried who opposition dared.
The Prince of Orange landed in Torbay,
And James was forced to take himself away.

1689 ---1702

WILLIAM & MARY

With Mary William they together join,
And James was beaten at the river Boyne.

59
1702- 714

ANNE

With Anne, succession to the Spanish crown
Provoked a war, and England won renown:
The Duke of Marlborough gained the victories,
At Blenheim first, and then at Ramillies,
At Oudenarde and then at Malplaquet,
Where Prince Eugene was wounded in the fray.

1714- 1727

GEORGE I

The Hanoverian George the next did reign;
Mar to restore the Stuarts sought in vain.
The South Sea Bubble quickly grew and burst:
To knaves a fortune, by their dupes accurst.

63
1727- 1760

GEORGE II

The second George saw Dettingen's array.
The Young Pretender lost Culloden's day.
At Indian Plassey Clive an Empire gained.
Quebec's fair heights with blood of Wolfe were stained.
The bribes of Walpole with the Commons weighed.
The elder Pitt was potent to persuade.

65
1760- 1820

GEORGE III

'Gainst George the Third the States United fought,
And gained the Independence which they sought.
In France the King upon the scaffold bled,
And then the Queen, and then the land was red.
Against Napoleon Pitt upheld the strife;
Brave Nelson won Trafalgar with his life:
And Wellington the Frenchman's power assailed
And afterwards at Waterloo prevailed.

1820- 1830

GEORGE IV

As George the Fourth, King crowned, the Regent
reigned,
And Greece from Navarino freedom gained.

1830- 1837

WILLIAM IV

With William, sailor Sovereign, freedom sped:
Reform of Franchise; slaves enfranchised.

1837-

VICTORIA

Victoria next, his niece, ascends the throne:
The Prince, her Consort, for The Good beknown.
When Peel repealed the tax upon the corn
He suffered under Ben Disraeli's scorn.
To France Napoleon came, Hortense's son.
Our Exhibition joined the world in one.
But soon against the Czar the war began-
At Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann.
In Crimea fell the suffering and the slain;
Till at the last Sevastopol was ta'en.
The Indian Delhi saw the Sepoys rise,
And Cawnpore heard the murdered mothers' cries.
In Lucknow women won enduring fame,
And Havelock and Colin Campbell came.
Secession Union of the States assailed,
But Freedom's battle in the end prevailed.
Again the Russian on the Bosphorus moved,
But stayed when India England's power approved.
For India's Kaisar, England's Queen, can sway
An Empire equal to the rising day ;
And children's children's children own the love
Of Her who holds the Sceptre with the Dove.

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