Henry's dream

And in dreams, no doubt, everything looked different. And perhaps, it was the way things should have been.

Sometimes when he’s fast asleep,

He can still see them all –

So different yet so alike,

They still make his blood run cold.

He sees her all young and proud,

No silver in auburn hair,

She prays and she speaks aloud

In Spanish- and she’s still there.

She dances with ease and grace,

So vibrant and full of life,

She’s all golden thread and lace –

And somebody else’s wife.

Another would glide along,

Her face all alight with wit,

Her hair dark, and lush, and long,

Her voice- deep and bittersweet.

Her eyes would glitter and shine,

So vibrant and full of life-

She’s dangerously sublime,

And somebody else’s wife.

The third one would smile at him,

Her hair full of sun and wheat,

So pale, that she almost gleams,

She nods, but she seldom speaks.

She’s holding her new born son,

So vibrant and full of life-

He knows that she is the one,

His Queen and his perfect wife.

The foreign one comes his way,

She’s nice, but not nice enough.

He wishes she would not stay,

She’s somber and never laughs.

And then he sees her again,

So vibrant and full of life,

She dazzles all courtly men,

But she’s someone else’s wife.

The girl laughs and dances by

As graceful as summer wind,

She’s cheeky, and not too shy,

But boldness is not a sin.

She’s beauty itself, he thinks,

So vibrant and full of life,

His heart, however sinks:

She’s soon to be bride and wife.

His eyes catch a glimpse of red:

She’s talking to Seymour there,

She’s slim, and white, ginger haired,

She’s fine – but what does she care…

He knows she’s too far above

Too vibrant and full of life…

But God, he knows he could love

Even another man’s wife.

They come and watch him again,

At night, when nobody’s there,

There is too much to regain,

But too little time to spare.

He wakes up in his vast bed,

And cries till his eyes are sore-

And wishes they’d go away,

And never torment him so.

All women are fine, he knows

Until you spend all your life

In choosing or letting go,

Or chasing somebody’s wife

Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon in The Spanish princess, Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn (The other Boleyn girl), Elly Condron as Jane Seymour (Six wives with Lucy Worsley), Rebecca Dyson-Smith as Anna of Cleves (Six wives with Lucy Worsley), Lynne Frederick as Catherine Howard (Henry VIII and his six wives), Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr in Firebrand.

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