Queen Elizabeth I Research Paper

Queen Elizabeth I heavily inspired the literary works of many authors during the Elizabethan period; however, she herself was a writer of poems and other compositions. Many of her skills were developed as a young girl while she was educated in a multitude of languages and rhetoric. As a woman, she composed sonnets, poems, letters, and speeches. Specifically, Elizabeth’s poems reference her own life and issues that occurred before and during her reign. While reading her poems, we learn a lot about Elizabeth’s character, personality, and even her inner feelings through the stories behind her poetry. Written on the Wall at Woodstock was a poem that Elizabeth wrote while under house arrest at Woodstock in 1554. She was imprisoned for potentially

The poem consists of eight rhyming couplets. We read in lines 1 and 2, “The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy, and wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy” (RPO, lines 1-2). Elizabeth is acknowledging her intelligence is what prevents her from engaging in arguments with her enemies that could be detrimental to her position. In line 5, the “aspiring minds” are those who are conspiring to remove her from the throne. “And fruitless all their grafted guile, as shortly ye shall see” (RPO, line 5). This part of the poem expresses Elizabeth’s confidence and certainty as a secure monarch by stressing that those who desire to overthrow her will not be successful in doing so. In line 11, she mentions “the daughter of debate” (RPO, line 11). She is referring to her cousin Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. During this time she was attempting to cause discord in Britain, and Queen Elizabeth is confident she will not be victorious. The final couplet of the poem, “My rusty sword through rest shall first his edge employ. To poll their tops that seek such change or gape for future joy,” (RPO, line 15-16) is Elizabeth’s promise to protect her realm from anyone who dares to challenge her. This includes Queen Mary as well as other political enemies that she had during this

She is mourning the love that she has for a man, yet cannot let anyone know. The metaphor in line 5, “I freeze and yet am burned,” suggests how she stays distant from him, but still suffers from emotional pain (RPO, line 5). In line 7 through 9, Elizabeth weeps, “My care is like my shadow in the sun, follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, stands and lies beside me, doth what I have done;” she is expressing the sorrow that is constantly with her, yet she cannot confront it. The remaining lines in this stanza suggest she is unable to rid herself of the feelings she has for him and they will remain with her (RPO, lines 7-9). In lines 13 and 14, “some gentler passion slide into my mind, for I am soft and made of melting snow;” Elizabeth is pleading that something else will enter her life because she is feeling fragile and defenseless. In the last few lines of the poem, she is desiring for a change in her life, whether it be good or bad, “let me float or sink, be high or low.” In conclusion, Elizabeth pleas, “Or let me live with some more sweet content, or die and so forget what love ere meant” (RPO, lines 13-18). She begs that either something or someone brings her solitude or else she rather die so that she can feel