Monarchs built Britain through, politics and power
With many figures being locked in London’s tower
Like the Scot, Mary, to Guy Fawkes and even Anne Boleyn
Who with her brother, committed incest, a royally fatal sin

Shakespeare wrote the famous Henriads about many royals
Who, rather than face truths, would rake in loots and spoils
He wrote about the feeble child of France, Richard the second
Usurped by Bolingbroke because his inheritance beckoned

Though previously, Richard used to dig him with taunts
Whilst Henry’s father fell ill from grief, that’s John Of Gaunt
Henry came to claim his throne with his band of merry men
He was victorious, though his ego was the size of Big Ben

This is a deceptively hollow crown, an empty shell so to speak
The crown doesn’t give you power, only a murderous streak
And here with Henry and Richard came the Hundred Years War
Full of plays for power, political manoeuvres, battles and more

Like the many attempts from the Percys, and their allies
But on the battlefield the rebellion broke and later dies
Henry the fourth died and Henry the fifth grew into a man
Keeping healthy ties with England’s people, forming a united clan

Henry the fifth was a just and honest monarch, a great king
With the commoners he loved to break bread and song sing
Truly the people’s man, listening and taking in all their troubles
Whilst drunk on mead and ale, with ascending carbonic bubbles

And suddenly died after taking Isabella as his Queen
From dysentery, an affliction of the bowels, how unclean
Leaving Henry the sixth to grow up into an impudent fool
Married to the French and pragmatic Margaret Of Anjou

The young Henry sat the throne as an adolescent teen
Emotional, erratic and developed a crazy mad gene
He married into France for their position and army
But his paranoia soon ensued and he became quite barmy

He lost the throne to his Yorkist cousins
Killing Lancastrians in heaps and dozens
Richard was killed in the grounds of his home
This is where our tale begins, a beastly tome

Edward took up his father’s tasks and duty
Then came Elizabeth’s grace and beauty
She sat beside him as his queen and love
Idly pure, perfect like a holy white dove

This Northamptonian ruler sat the seat
While Lord Warwick plotted with much conceit
The snake-like and writhing kingmaker
A manipulator, a spider and king breaker

Edward married for loyalty and love
Just as easily as putting on a glove
Much to the dismay of his house
Due to the lowly name of his spouse

Here we have his brothers Rich and George
By marrying her, their bond was unforged
George rebelled and joined foolish Henry
But Richard remained with Ed and the gentry

George was drowned in a barrel of wine
While Rich walked with a twisted spine
Ed and George died and Rich rose over all
Even above Woodville, though crippled and tall

He became king, forcing Liz into hiding
Often spiting her by giving glad tidings
Said to have killed the famous lost princes
A victory he lorded over without any winces

Richard was killed at Bosworth in Leicester
Beneath a car park, where his body did fester
But this time, victory slipped through his clutches
And Henry Tudor picked up his courtly crutches

History is written by victors and males
Depicting their foes with black sails
By writers and scholars with devilish smiles
Penning heroes as villains on false trials

Often open to opinion and interpretation
Sparking debates and classical connotations
History is a tale of man’s world, his story
Basking him in fame and jumped-up glory

History is written by the winnners

Regardless if they’re saints or sinners