a book of historical poems

j .reynolds

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© all rights reserved. No written part of this book may be reproduced in

any form without permission in writing from the author.

This collection is dedicated to Matthew, a lover of art, history and literature

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Author ’s Note

The nature of historical poetry – by and large an underdeveloped genre – is such that it must at times be accompanied by explanatory footnotes to aid the reader in bringing to light the characters or actual

events surrounding the poem. For some, this might result in a distraction from the natural flow of the poem. It is recommended, therefore, that the reader first engage the poems without referring to the notes.

A second reading with reference to the notes will serve to illuminate the historical details more fully.

- JR July, 2010

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table of contents

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◈◈◈◈◈◈◈

ode to the hapless knight-errant don quixote de la mancha (2001)

el charro de morelos (2000)

la reine d ’ecosse (1995)

ode to a dwarf (2004)

le tems revient (2006)

the pope ’s niece (2010)

i l baroquiste (2006)

  4  

Ode to the Hapless Knight-Errant Don Quixote de la Mancha

(which treats of matters relating to this history and no others)

  5  

A surname Quesada or maybe Quixada Sonantally said was Quixana

But, ho, said he, henceforth I shall be

The knight-errant Don Quixote.

A lance at his bedside effectively knighted

Not even the ashes remain

To the fire Oliva and tomes of Amadis

The priest and the barber refrained.

  6  

Not giants, but windmills doth vanquishing require

Quoth Sancho to the Sorrowful Figure

Fly not! vile caitiffs, ye half-witted goblins

Sally forth! In haste and with vigour.

O queen of my soul, peerless Dulcinea

Succour this knight before thee

Thy beauty, high lady, can’t but be equated

With mermaids alight in the sea.

Clapping his spurs to the steed Rosinante

With Sancho a’ dappling behind In search of adventure and covered in armor

They coursed and discoursed through the land

  7  

Eternal babbler, tho’ void of all wit!

Quoth the Sorrowful one to his squire

Thy proverbs behound me, in nowise portend thee

To speak in thy poet’s attire.

The devil and malice, my lady enchanted

Transformed by Cervantes was she

I know not the wench who bewarted stands fore us

Tho’ my heart be obedient to thee.

The man of la Mancha was vanquished forever

They carried him to his bed

O’ worship, quoth Sancho, we needs peradventure

But Alonso Quixano lay dead.

§§  

  8  

el charro de morelos

  9  

Porfirio Diaz was a pinche cabrón. He sold all the land down to the last stone

A grower of melons and fighter of bulls Who snatched the girl Inés from under his nose Mounted his steed and like Lightning he flew

To Mexico City for justice and truth. ξ

Bring me an axe and I’ll break down the gate! I’m here to remind you of famine and fate.

Is socialism a “thing” asked the ponderous Villa? El charro replied, not thing, pesadilla.

The Plan de Ayala, an anarchist’s slate 1ϖ

For the land of Morelos there is no debate.

                                                                                                               ξ This is the story of Emiliano Zapata, a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920. ϖ The Plan de Ayala was the agrarian reform program drawn up by Zapata and his associates.

  10  

◈◈◈◈◈◈ The son of Cleofas and Gabby Zapata

Recounted the tale to those that had gathered. His story echoed throughout the land.

Still heard in the hills and told on demand. To all who would listen he spoke of the misery “ This is my revolution. It is a long history.”

§§  

  11  

la riene d ’Ecosse

“in the end is my beginning”

  12  

To St. Germain in ’48

Three Marys and I set sail “La petite Rienette

Must needs forget

The ashes of Wishart and Pinkie Clough β

Mary, Queen of Scots, age 13 by Francois Clouet

                                                                                                               β This poem recounts the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Pinkie Clough was the site of the battle between the English and Scottish-French forces through which the English – through “rough wooing” – hope to secure the marriage between Mary and Edward VI. 10,000 Scots were slain. This prompted Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, to send her to France for reasons of safety. George Wishart was a Calvinist follower who was emolated for preaching the “reformed” religion.

  13  

The Dauphin you’ll wed, the Medici said,

No longer Mary, but Marie

Tho’ magic was dead

On our nuptial bed

I dinna judge him nor he me

Mary of Guise, unknown artist

“Of a rotten ear did the Valois expire,” Knox ranted from his stand

A Dowager Queen Not yet nineteen

Begone to a foreign land π

                                                                                                               π Soon after her young husband, the King of France (Francois de Valois) died of an ear infection, Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, also died. The Scottish lords then enjoined Mary to return to Scotland as the legitimate Stewart successor.

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◈◈◈◈◈◈

“The tongue to me is a mystery,”

To the Guises I did say

“To ken yer way,”

Snuffed the Earl of Moray

“Ye’d best leir it goode, and quicklie.

Mary and Francois

The Earl of Moray, a force in his day

My half brother James was he

“A bedsheet,” he lamented,

“Is all that prevented

The Crown being placed upon me.

  15  

From his pulpit Knox cried, “Mariologists must die!

Ye duarna say Mass at my lug.” δ

And I feared as he shrieked

My land’s future was bleak

The first blast of the trumpet had come. γ

An heir to the throne, the Lords did intone

Is the Order of the Day

Athletic and Handsome

Quite worth a King’s ransom

Don Carlos, King Erik, I pray!

But, ah! The fair Darnley, in every way comely

A male Venus if you please

A goode and perfect Suitor

This last male Tudor

And Fresh as the Firth of Forth breeze.

                                                                                                               δ John Knox bitterly detested Mary and her staunch Catholicism. This line translates from the Gaelic: “don’t you dare say mass at my ear.” γ Knox’s infamous pamphlet, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regime of Women (1558), was directed at the prospect of Mary’s ascension to the Scottish throne.

  16  

A singer, a flautist, a linguist most famous,

A Talent of many means

“A papist spy!

“Kill Riccio,” they cried

“Servants shouldna kiss Queens.” ♦

A dastardly Deed on the banks of the Tweed

“This is the blow of the King!”

Oh, traitorous villain

Ye’ll pay for this killin’

I’ll think only on Revenge.

                                                                                                               ♦ David Riccio was an Italian linguist who, was hired by Mary for the position of “personal secretary.” Riccio subsequently became Mary’s closest confidant. Her husband Henry Stuart (Lord Darnley) and other powerful Lords resented Riccio’s Catholic influence on her, and stabbed him to death.

  17  

An heir to the Throne in June was born,

Now Darnley will be removed

Nay, my conscience will stain

I must therefore refrain

(Tho’ in practice I approve). ϕ

The court (save me) gone

He entered anon

Bold Borderer from Skye

No lights, no sound,

Sweet love on the Ground

O, Bothwell, my hear soars high. δ

                                                                                                               ϕ

It is widely held that Mary, did in fact, approve of Darnley’s “removal.” It has not been established, however, that she ultimately sanctioned his murder. δ It is claimed that James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, found Mary worshipping at a small, abandoned chapel on the grounds of her Stirling estate following the christening of her son, James VI. Bothwell, it is further claimed, proceeded to seduce Mary, and apparently, was successful.

  18  

A blast awry begat Darnley’s demise

The crest of the hare loomed low. ξ

“He was safe in his bed,”

It was heard and was said

“But we Scots dinna let him rest so!”

Henry, Lord Darnley, King Consort of Scotland

“Treacherous regicide!” the people cried

“Whore! Murderess! Jezabel!”

The tears and the bones

Tell the tale alone λ

The Queen must needs burn in Hell!

                                                                                                               

ξ Bothwell’s family crest depicted a hare surrounded by a circle of swords. λ The betrothal ring given by Mary to Bothwell was of black enamel and covered with tears and bones.

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The Lords they did call; Morton, Erskine, Atholl

From their standard at Mercat Cross

For the cleansing of Bothwell

From the walls of the castle

There be none left to trust.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

The Lords bid me sign, to Lochleven confined ϑ

No longer a Queen enticed.

My star, it hae fallen

I’ll hie to the heavens

Not “Majesty,” but “Grace.”

                                                                                                               

ϑ The Lords of the Congregation demanded that Mary rid herself of Bothwell. When she refused, they forced her to sign a declaration relinquishing her throne to her son James, whereupon she was take to her prison at Lochleven.

  20  

A brides’ retreat, now a gaoler’s dream

Lady Douglas she took me in. ℜ

“Let the dogs drink her blood!”

Spewed Knox from his mound

“High and Puissant Prince did win.” ϕ

John Knox 1510-1572

On a fair May Day when all were merrie

From my prison I rowed away

To my cousin (from Carlisle)

I appealed for fair trial

Was adjured, “in the casket, pray stay.” κ

                                                                                                               ℜ Lady Douglas was the Earl of Moray’s mother. She and her husband, Laird Douglas, were Mary’s jailers at the castle on the island of Lochleven from which Mary escaped by boat during a May Day celebration. ϕ

Reference to Lord James, the Earl of Moray, whose official title was “High and Puissant Prince of Scotland.” κ Reference to the famous “Casket Letters” which were procured by the Scottish Lords. The letters, from Mary to Bothwell, implicated her in the plot to get rid of Darnley.

  21  

My good cousin seen as the Pure Virgin Queen γ With Cecil and Dudley in tow

She taunts me by day

I hae’ to say

“Con Regina Scotorum, my foe!”

Queen Elizabeth I

Norfolk, Northumberland, they offered their hands

To whom shall I be wed?

“Thus perish my Queen’s phantoms,”

Chirped the robin most handsome π “For their efforts they lost their heads.”

                                                                                                               

γ Reference to Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth I. π

“Robin” was Queen Elizabeth’s pet name for her court favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

  22  

“Treason is Treason,” quoth the Faerie Queen (Gloriana at Leicester’s estate)

“The law is the law”

Today is the day

Pray God, make it neat.

Mary's Arms as Queen of Scots and Queen consort of France

§§

  23  

 

ode to a dwarf

  24  

 

To court the Heavens on an Enlightened night

Takes a pope whose catholic fancy takes flight

How swift the Pen doles its advice δ

"In art is no Theory, in objects no price" ϕ

Alexander Pope 1688-1744

In London lies Newton, a pope interred

His laws of motion the Holy wrath incurred

"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in Night

God said: Let Newton Be! And all was Light" β

                                                                                                               δ Jonathan Swift was Alexander Pope's lifelong friend. ϕ

All lines in quotations are from Pope’s work. β This stanza refers to Sir Isaac Newton whose scientific discoveries - while they earned him the enmity of the Papacy - were supported by Pope in spite of Pope's Catholicism. The last two lines are from the epitaph Pope wrote for Newton's interment in Westminster Abby in London.

  25  

"Is Heaven unkind to Man, and Man alone?"

For His good sense must He e're atone?

While pensive poets awaken the Spring

"A little learning is a dangerous thing."

Sir Isaac Newton

Not by partial, but by gen'ral laws

Does man deduce the final cause

"Good nature and good sense must ever join

To err is Human; to forgive Divine" π

                                                                                                               

π This line, normally attributed Shakespeare, is Pope’s from An Essay on Criticism.

  26  

le tems revient

  27  

Cicero and Plutarch spread their wings Whence they flew to the Florentine Spring.

It ver, spring comes, Lucretius warns,

Love is a duty.

Primavera, Botticelli

Like a falcon soaring to prey, he rode

La giostra alight with helmets of gold.

From the King of Naples a white stallion came,

His armor a gift from the Duke of Milan.

Weaving a garland from a withered bay-tree

Madonna Donati, a Venus to see.

I have covered my breasts with crimson flowers Come Mars, come away, for we are alone.

  28  

From the stands Filipepi, the little bottle sat still.

The world is a symbol of beauty and will. He’ll follow the custom and do like the others,

Said the riveting gaze of St. Augustine.

The love of experience, the value of reason.

Homeric boy was the mark of the season.

The tilting of furniture now underway,

And the laureate reposed.

Son of Piero but like of Cosimo

Patron of letters and lover of Plato.

But how full the world of ignorance Death, the master, shows us all.

§§  

  29  

Notes  

 

This poem is about Lorenzo de Medici, virtual ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1492. ‘Le tems revient’ is Latin: translated it means ‘the time returns’ and was displayed on the standard which preceded Lorenzo’s entry into his ‘coming of age’ tournament, known in Florentine circles as a giostra. Within this tradition, the idea of love objectified in the figure of the beloved is linked to the concept of human ennoblement and an appetite for love. During the time that Lorenzo ruled Florence, neoplatonic ideas came to be in vogue. They included a revival of Plato, Cicero, Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, poetry and art, all of which celebrated the ‘divine being on earth.’ Hence, the origins of ‘humanism.’

The poem starts out explaining the revival of the classics – such as Cicero and Plutarch - during the Florentine Renaissance. The season of spring was thought to represent a rebirth of life, love and art, as urged by the ancient philosopher Lucretius. The advent of the highly popular giostra was a corollary to the revival of the classics. This poem celebrates one of the major events of Lorenzo’s rule – his own giostra or jousting festival during which competitors fought each other on horses in a large arena, usually large enough for the the entire city of Florence to attend. Lorenzo’s giostra was of such magnificent proportions that the artist Verrocchio was commissioned to paint the previously mentioned standard depicting the neoplatonic ideas of beauty, love and the strength of the human will, ideas for which the leading philosopher of the day - Marsilio Ficino – was revered. Ficino founded the famous Platonic Academy under the sponsorship of Lorenzo’s grandfather, Cosimo de Medici. Ficino held that the intelligible word was the mark of nobility and ideality and Lorenzo was one of the prized members of this closed group. This tournament was also immortalized in a canzone by the poet Luigi Pulci who was also sponsored by Lorenzo. Lorenzo’s giostra, held on 7 February, 1469, was indeed a magnificent event. In this strange fifteen-century rite of passage – a public display of wealth and power – the costumes and allegories were more important than the skill of the horsemen. Lorenzo later remarked that “although I was no champion in the use of weapons and the delivery of blows, the first prize was awarded to me, a helmet inlaid with silver and a figure of Mars as the crest.” Two of Florence’s most important allies – the king of Naples and the duke of Milan – sent gifts to symbolize the particular relationship that the Medici – though merely “citizens” of Florence - enjoyed with the royalty of Italy.

The reference to ‘Madonna Donati’ reflects the love of Lorenzo’s life, Lucretia Donati, an extraordinary beautiful woman. Despite the fact that he was engaged to another woman – Clarice Orsini of Rome – Lorenzo dedicated his giostra to Lucretia who had woven a garland of violets “from a withered bay-tree” for him and asked him to carry it on the field to demonstrate his love for her. The line “Come Mars, come away, for we are alone” signifies Lucretia’s desperation whenever Lorenzo traveled on diplomatic missions, leaving her behind. The words are inscribed in a poem she dedicated to him while he was away on one such mission.

The reference to “Filipepi” is one to the great artist, Botticelli who was commissioned to paint La Primavera or ‘Spring’ which is the painting seen inserted in the poem. It has been widely speculated that Venus –seen in the centre of the painting – represents Lucretia. The name Botticelli translates literally into ‘the little bottle.’ Botticelli was Lorenzo’s closest friend and was present at Lorenzo’s giostra as well as a regular visitor to the Medici palaces. Also present was the philosopher poet Poliziano who came to replace Pulci as the favored Medici poet. Ficino nicknamed Poliziano the “Homeric boy” as homage to Poliziano’s philosophic genius. The line referring to the “tilting of furniture” is simply the vernacular way of expressing the beginning of the giostra, ‘furniture’ referring to the swords - and in most cases, chairs - used in the joust. The last two lines of the poem are lines taken from a poem composed by Lorenzo himself, one of the many vernacular love poems for which he was both noted and celebrated.  

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the pope ’s niece

  31  

"a tradesman's daughter" the Valois sniffed Duchessina nouveau riche

neither talisman nor astrologer’s plan will ease the royal rift

The living I cannot trust, but the dead I must

"de occulta philosophie libri tres" β

Cornelius Agrippa 1486-1535

                                                                                                               

β This poem’s subject is Catherine d’Medici of the powerful (but non-royal) Florentine ruling family during the Renaissance period. Through an arranged marriage by her uncle, Pope Clement VII, Catherine married the son of King Francis I of France, (Henri of Orleans) eventually becoming Queen. Both as an imprisoned child, and until her death, Catherine was fascinated with, and practiced, the “black arts” such as magic and the occult. Her personal astrologer was Nostradamus. The last line of this stanza refers to the name of a book (Three Books of Occult Philosophy), written by Cornelius Agrippa, one that attempted revive the art of astrological magic, and one consulted by Catherine obsessively when she failed to produce an heir. King Francis was said to have lamented, “the girl comes to me stark naked.”

  32  

My dauphin cries at Fontainbleau δ Ma fils, M’ami je t’adore

He’s called to me and naturally Our love begins anew

No measure of my toll stirs the dark blot on my soul

“ non omnis moriar.” ϕ

Catherine, Queen Consort of France, 1550

Tho’ stout in the face of pain, I wept Two babes alike from me

“Ruggieri!” I cried, come to my side The spell on me unprep!

For the crack of bones, I must atone π

“numquam denuo” γ

                                                                                                               

δ “Dauphin” was the title given to the heir apparent to the French throne from the 14th to 18th centuries. This line refers to the birth of Catherine’s and Henry’s first son, Francois who, at 14, was married to Mary, Queen of Scots. ϕ “Not all of me shall die.” The line “he’s called to me and naturally” refers to a vision that Catherine claimed she had as a young Italian girl in which a man (Henri) called out her name “Catherine,” as he lay dying, in French. π

Catherine gave birth to ten children, seven of which survived into adulthood. Her last pregnancy yielded twin girls, Joan and Victoria, in June,1556. Joan died in the womb as a result of the midwife’s attempt to save Catherine’s life. The fetus’ legs were broken in the womb to allow easier passage through the birth canal. She did not survive. Victoria died seven weeks later. The name Ruggieri is a reference to a black arts magician, hired by Catherine so that she could produce children. The historical rumor holds that she and Ruggieri sacrificed a pregnant mute girl so that Catherine’s fortunes would change regarding her inability to bear children.

  33  

What makes Nights long, ‘ere they be past? Madame Diane and he?

Two natures slight on Black and on White δ The helmet was miscast

A widow’d and sorrow’d Queen (‘that Italian woman’ is seen )

"lacrymae hinc, hinc dolor" ƒ

Diane de Poitiers by Francois Clouet, 1571

                                                                                                               

γ Late Latin for “never again.” δ

Catherine’s husband and his lifelong mistress, the powerful Diane de Poitiers, took as their matching colors, black and white, colors that often displayed an embroidered double “D,” and superimposed with an “H.” ƒ

“From this come my tears and my pain.” Catherine took as her emblem a broken lance inscribed with these words after her husband, the King, suffered a lance to the eye during a joust with his opponent (said to be the lover of Mary, Queen of Scots) and died. He had not secured his helmet properly.

  34  

Burning heretics, I have already killed!

Aller, First Prince of the Blood κ

Tho’ I understand not what aims are begot The blood of sin will be spilled

For in the end, you see, my friend

“Je sui Catherine, je ne sui pas l'Italie.” ϕ

The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, with the murder of Gaspard de

Coligny above, as depicted in a fresco by Giorgio Vasari

                                                                                                               

κ This was the official title given to Antoine de Bourbon, who later became King of Navarre. Bourbon’s brother, Louis, headed the Protestant Huguenot rebellion, while Antoine spuriously changed back and forth between Protestantism and Catholicism to suit his political ambitions. As regent for her son, Charles IX, Catherine named him “lieutenant general of the kingdom” in 1561. Catherine is seen as largely responsible for the burning of Huguenots during the infamous St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572, though she was said not to have fully understood the issues. ϕ “I am Catherine, I am not Italy.”

  35  

i l baroquiste (ode to merisi)

  36  

O painter, ε pardon me when I say

If the Cardsharps who ruled the day π

In triangular tension Had made but a mention

Of the Manner from whence they did stray The dabble and daub

Of the Florentine mob β Undoubtedly would have held sway.

  Cardsharps, Caravaggio

                                                                                                               

ε This ode is dedicated to the brilliant artist Michaelangelo Merisi, otherwise known as Caravaggio. π Cardsharps (above, also called The Cheats) was one of Caravaggio’s first renowned paintings, reflecting both a deviation from the previous Mannerist era and the introduction of Baroque naturalism (as if painted from life). The painting - seen above - is dated 1594 and launched Caravaggio’s career through the patronage of Cardinal Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte, a powerful de Medici figure in the Catholic church in the last half of the 16th century (Italy), an avid and knowledgeable art collector. β Reference to the Florentine masters of the 15th and 16th centuries (Bottecelli, Michaelangelo, Raphael, da Vinci, etc).

  37  

O painter, allow me to mention

If the head of Medusa’s intention ϕ

Is to frown upon Eros

Whose quiver of arrows

Pulse through the veins of convention λ

Then no brush’s friction

Can mar the conviction

Of Love’s most daring pretension.  ξ  

 

 the Musicians, Caravaggio

                                                                                                               

ϕ Medusa, a later painting, depicted the bloody head of Medusa held up for sacrifice. λ Musicians (1595, pictured above) - Caravaggio’s next masterpiece - depicted four partly nude young boys in musical concert. As an allegory, Musicians is as much about love as it is about music. Caravaggio painted himself as one of the boys (in back right of painting). Of his painting, del Monte commented that “M paints as from life.” Eros is sitting on the left at the back of the painting eating from a bunch of grapes with a quiver of arrows at his side. ξ Many critics have commented that the Musicians reflected Caravaggio’s “decadent” homosexual practices, including trysts with male prostitutes or “rent-boys.”

  38  

O dominus chiaroscuro δ

If he loves you ; anzi v’ adoro ψ

When the black water dove

Hears the Echo of love Ω

Turning his sad gaze to sorrow

The glow of the knee

And the sheen of the sleeve

Will be gone with the light of the morrow.  λ

                                                                                David, Caravaggio

                                                                                                               

δ Chiaroscuro (literally “light-dark”) is a painting technique whose origin is normally attributed solely to Caravaggio.

Such a technique reflects the contrasting realism and naturalism of Baroque painting (dominus is Latin for “master”). See (David) above. ψ In Caravaggio’s Bacchus, his companion, Mario Minniti, is painted fingering a lute, framed by a musical still life of violin and madrigal music whose words – anzi v’ adoro – (you know I love you, I adore you) can be deciphered in the painting. Ω Narcissus (see front cover) was the last painting of Caravaggio’s not to have the religious themes that the market (i.e., the Catholic church) imposed on painters during the time of the Counter Reformation. Narcissus is the story of the ungrateful youth who rejected the love of the nymph Echo, feeling a new torment of strange love – for himself. λ

In Narcissus, we see Caravaggio’s talent for painting action and contemplation, history as well as a portrait. The shimmering silk sleeves and the knee take on a luminous life of their own in the darkness that surrounds the boy. Caravaggio refused to draw his objects or scenes, preferring to paint directly onto the canvas.

  39  

 

O painter, dare we to advise

That history ought to decide

If their Judiths were crasser

Than that of their master

And if they were, why did they try

To conjure an image

A barroco visage

From one who could not so abide. β    

 Fortune Tellers, Caravaggio

                                                                                                               

β This stanza refers to the Caravaggisti, or painters who emulated M’s style. Prominent painters of the day included

the Gentileschis (Orazio and his daughter Artemesia) and the Carracci brothers (Annibale and Agostino). Artemesia Gentileschi painted several versions of Judith Beheading Holofernes. Caravaggio vehemently opposed any who copied his style.

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O painter, I say it is a shame

That one of such fortune and fame

Did meet such a fate

As to precipitate a death in colors  ξ

 

 St. Jerome - Caravaggio

 

 

                                                                                                               

ξ Caravaggio was banished from Rome for the murder of an acquaintance; from there he went into exile at Naples until

the Pope granted him a papal pardon for his crimes. Upon his return, the ship on which he was travelling left him on the beaches of Palo, where he developed a fatal fever. His body was never recovered.

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                                                                           Marsilio Ficino, Epistulae (Letters)

Parchment, Florence 1475-6

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