Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I Poems

The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy,
And wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy;
For falsehood now doth flow, and subjects' faith doth ebb,
Which should not be if reason ruled or wisdom weaved the
...

No crooked leg, no bleared eye,
No part deformed out of kind,
Nor yet so ugly half can be
As is the inward suspicious mind.
...

Never think you fortune can bear the sway
Where virtue's force can cause her to obey.
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Much suspected by me,
Nothing proved can be,
Quoth Elizabeth prisoner.
...

When I was fair and young, then favor graced me.
Of many was I sought their mistress for to be.
...

Oh Fortune, thy wresting wavering state
Hath fraught with cares my troubled wit,
Whose witness this present prison late
Could bear, where once was joy's loan quit
...

I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
...

Oh, Fortune! how thy restlesse wavering state
Hath fraught with cares my troubled witt!
Witnes this present prisonn, whither fate
...

Ah, silly Pug, wert thou so sore afraid?
Mourn not, my Wat, nor be thou so dismayed.
It passeth fickle Fortune’s power and skill
...

Queen Elizabeth I Biography

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, the childless Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII by second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeth's birth. Anne's marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her half-brother, Edward VI, ruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, Elizabeth and the Roman Catholic Mary, in spite of statute law to the contrary. However, Edward's will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne, and she set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships. As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing"). In religion she was relatively tolerant, avoiding systematic persecution. After 1570, when the pope declared her illegitimate and released her subjects from obedience to her, several conspiracies threatened her life. All plots were defeated, however, with the help of her ministers' secret service. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly-resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. However, by the mid-1580s, war with Spain could no longer be avoided. When Spain finally decided to attempt to conquer England in 1588, the failure of the Spanish Armada associated her with one of the greatest military victories in English history. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era. The period is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake. Some historians are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587. After the short reigns of Elizabeth's half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.)

The Best Poem Of Queen Elizabeth I

The Doubt Of Future Foes

The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy,
And wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy;
For falsehood now doth flow, and subjects' faith doth ebb,
Which should not be if reason ruled or wisdom weaved the web.
But clouds of joys untried do cloak aspiring minds,
Which turn to rain of late repent by changed course of winds.
The top of hope supposed the root upreared shall be,
And fruitless all their grafted guile, as shortly ye shall see.
The dazzled eyes with pride, which great ambition blinds,
Shall be unsealed by worthy wights whose foresight falsehood finds.
The daughter of debate that discord aye doth sow
Shall reap no gain where former rule still peace hath taught to know.
No foreign banished wight shall anchor in this port;
Our realm brooks not seditious sects, let them elsewhere resort.
My rusty sword through rest shall first his edge employ
To poll their tops that seek such change or gape for future joy.

Queen Elizabeth I Comments

Hmm, very interesting never knew that Elizabeth had written poems, interesting.

24 12 Reply
BRITAIN INVADED MY HOME 24 October 2019

F*UC QE1, SHE IS A C*M DRINKING, C*NT LIKING S*UT

1 3 Reply
BRITAIN INVADED MY HOME 24 October 2019

QE1, SHE IS A AND A AND A

2 1 Reply
Alieu sillah 20 November 2018

Poem about queen Elizabeth

5 0 Reply
Godfrey Morris 27 June 2012

LOL I didn't know her majesty Queen Elizabeth I was a poet too..... very interesting.

8 17 Reply
Megan Lacey 12 December 2007

I am very suprised that 'On Monsieur's Departure', arguably Elizabeth's most famous foray into verse, is not posted here on PoemHunter.

17 15 Reply

Queen Elizabeth I Quotes

When I received this [coronation] ring I solemnly bound myself in marriage to the realm; and it will be quite sufficient for the memorial of my name and for my glory, if, when I die, an inscription be engraved on a marble tomb, saying, "Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin, and died a virgin."

Princes have big ears which hear far and near.

A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past.

A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing.

There is nothing in the world I hold in greater horror than to see a body moving against its head: and I shall be very careful not to ally myself with such a monster.

Fear not, we are of the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruction of mice and such small beasts.

That milkmaid's lot is better than mine, and her life merrier.

I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall briefly express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, the reformation of religion under it, and my preservation of peace.

... what a family is without a steward, a ship without a pilot, a flock without a shepherd, a body without a head, the same, I think, is a kingdom without the health and safety of a good monarch.

Must! Is must a word to be addressed to princes? Little man, little man! thy father, if he had been alive, durst not have used that word.

I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England, too.

All my possessions for a moment of time.

My lord, the crown which I have borne so long has given enough of vanity in my time. I beseech you not to augment it in this hour when I am so near my death.

I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.

Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.

I shall lend credit to nothing against my people which parents would not believe against their own children.

The name of a successor is like the tolling of my own death-bell!

I have the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything.

There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.

Monarchs ought to put to death the authors and instigators of war, as their sworn enemies and as dangers to their states.

One man with a head on his shoulders is worth a dozen without.

There is small disproportion betwixt a fool who useth not wit because he hath it not and him that useth it not when it should avail him.

I do not choose that my grave should be dug while I am still alive.

I would rather go to any extreme than suffer anything that is unworthy of my reputation, or of that of my crown.

Madame d'Estampes and Madame de Valentinois make me fear that I should be only honoured by my husband as a queen and not loved by him as a woman.

Mortua—sed non sepulta! Mortua—sed non sepulta! [Dead—but not buried! Dead—but not buried!]

Be of good cheer, for you will never want, for the bullet was meant for me, though it hit you.

Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak ... you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind.

Those who appear the most sanctified are the worst.

I do not want a husband who honours me as a queen, if he does not love me as a woman.

Although my royal rank causes me to doubt whether my kingdom is not more sought after than myself, yet I understand that you have found other graces in me.

The past cannot be cured.

The word "must" is not to be used to princes.

I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!

This day died a man with much wit and very little judgment.

Kings were wont to honour philosophers; but if I had such I would honour them as angels that should have such purity in them that they would not seek when they are the second to be the first, and when they are third to be the second.

The stone often recoils on the head of the thrower.

I would gladly chastise those who represent things as different from what they are. Those who steal property or make counterfeit money are punished, and those ought to be still more severely dealt with who steal away or falsify the good name of a prince.

Let the good service of well-deservers be never rewarded with loss. Let their thanks be such as may encourage more strivers for the like.

Though I am not imperial, and though Elizabeth may not deserve it, the Queen of England will easily deserve to have an emperor's son to marry.

The end crowneth the work.

It seems incredible, and I love them no less; and I can say that I would rather die than see any diminution of it on one side or the other.

I regret the unhappiness of princes who are slaves to forms and fettered by caution.

Where minds differ and opinions swerve there is scant a friend in that company.

Mr. Doctor, that loose gown becomes you so well I wonder your notions should be so narrow.

My loving people,—We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but, I do assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear.

They are most deceived that trusteth most in themselves.

Where might is mixed with wit, there is too good an accord in a government.

Ye may have a greater prince, but ye shall never have a more loving prince.

If our web be framed with rotten handles, when our loom is well nigh done, our work is new to begin. God send the weaver true prentices again, and let them be denizens.

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