ANNE BULLEN.
[KING HENRY VIII.]
It is generally believed that King Henry's gnawings of conscience for his marriage with Katharine were due to the charms of the beautiful Anne. Even Shakespeare betrays this opinion, and when the new queen appears in the coronation procession he puts these words into the mouth of a young nobleman :
" Heaven bless thee !
Thou hast the sweetest face I ever look'd on.
Sir, as I have a soul, she is an angel ;
Our king has all the Indies in his arms,
And more, and richer, when he strains that lady ;
I cannot blame his conscience."[1]
The poet also gives us an idea of the beauty of Anne Bullen in the next scene, where he depicts the enthusiasm which her appearance at the coronation produced.
How deeply Shakespeare was devoted to his sovereign, the stately Elizabeth, shows itself perhaps most beautifully in the precision of detail with which he represents the coronation of her mother. All of these details gave colour
- ↑ King Henry VIII., act iv. sc. I. It is remarkable that a passage extremely like this occurs in a poem by one of the earlier Icelandic skalds. Vide notes to Thorstens Saga. Also another in the Carmina Burana.
