Thursday 26 March 2015

His Name Now Carved in History

King.Richard.IIIThe more I have read of the short, troubled reign of  England’s King Richard III the more I am sure that he was at least as much ‘sinned against as sinning’.

At best, his modern detractors forget that while the last Plantagenet monarch was a product of a very violent age, he was an extraordinary modernist, laying the foundations of the British legal system in areas like bail, legal aid and the end of trade restrictions on book printing. My own knowledge is too limited to provide a contemporary equivalent, but readers may be able to provide one!

I think it is most appropriate that his legacy is such that the present Queen described his reinterment at Leicester Cathedral as “an event of great national and international significance” while the popular actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, discovered to be a distant second cousin, was invited to read the poem, Richard written for the occasion by Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.

Carol.Ann.DuffyHer piece has been described as “a meditation on the impact of the discovery of the king’s remains under a council car park in 2012, and the legacy of his story. The line, 'grant me the carving of my name', refers to carvings on his tomb which read 'Richard III', together with his symbol, the white boar”. She said: “It is a privilege to be involved, in a small way, in this unique event”.

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“Richard

“My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil,

a human braille. My skull, scarred by a crown,

emptied of history. Describe my soul

as incense, votive, vanishing; you own

the same. Grant me the carving of my name.

These relics, bless. Imagine you re-tie

a broken string and on it thread a cross,

the symbol severed from me when I died.

The end of time – an unknown, unfelt loss –

unless the Resurrection of the Dead …

or I once dreamed of this, your future breath

in prayer for me, lost long, forever found;

or sensed you from the backstage of my death,

as kings glimpse shadows on a battleground.

© Natalie Wood (27 March 2015)

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