Part the Eleventh:
Edward to Confessor to Harold Godwin
The first thing that he did when Edward was king
soon they were hated as the Danes had been
and Godwin regretted his choice of the king.
Eustace, Count of Boulogne, Edward’s friend,
and his men were on their way to France again;
they stopped off in Dover, their trip to begin,
and behaved as if the town belonged to them:
the best houses they went in for bread and board
without any leave and went without a word
of thanks to the occupants. This was too much,
an Englishman’s home is his castle and such
a thing as this must, ultimately, be stopped,
they would not stand for being bullied and robbed!
One brave man refused them entry to his place
and a Norman soldier struck him in the face.
He returned the blow, soon the town was alight
with Dover ‘gainst Normans in one massive fight.
The Englishmen fought well, beat the Normans down,
and drove every one of them out of their town.
A furious Eustace rode back to the king,
with lies in his throat he said, “Look at this thing
your Englishmen have done to my soldiers brave”,
neglecting the fact that they stirred up the rage.
King Edward was angry and ordered to come,
Earl Godwin, as Dover was in his Earldom.
Godwin, he saw through all the Norman’s plain lies
and that the fault was not all on Dover’s side.
The King ordered Godwin to punish the English
but Godwin refused and so he was banished;
all his lands to other people they went
and Edith, his daughter, sent to a convent.
Now, with no restraint on him, Edward alone
brought over more friends, even promised the throne
to his cousin who was the Duke of Normandy,
when he died, England’s crown, William’s would be.
But Godwin was not one to welcome a spurn
and, to the people’s delight, he soon returned
with his sons in tow; the king was appalled,
but the people all rallied around Godwin’s cause
and, with clever strategy, without a war,
Godwin got the king to send his French friends all
back over to France and put Englishmen in
the top places at court and the son of Godwin,
Harold by name, who was by the earl’s side
took over his place after his father died.
In the end Edward was a different man
and it was really Harold who ruled the land.
Harold loved his country and would not be swayed
but trouble came from a promise Edward made:
One day, in a shipwreck, the mighty storm’s roar
washed Harold alive upon Normandy’s shore.
Duke William knew that Harold was a great man
and was pleased to have him, captured, in his hand.
William showed pretend kindness to his foe
but kept him a prisoner, would not let him go,
until he promised just what Edward had done;
once that was accomplished then Harold was gone,
bitter at heart from what he had endured
and hating William and the Normans much more.
On 5th of January Edward’s last breath
was breathed and his body was then laid to rest
In Westminster Cathedral – finished that same day –
and King Harold over all England held sway.
In the end Edward was not a bad man
just could not love his country the way true kings can:
as “Edward the Confessor” he’s known today
but many mistakes he made along the way,
his promise to William perhaps worst of all
as this was to plunge England into turmoil;
unknown to the people, who loved their king so,
Harold had promised the same thing to their foe,
and when William of Normandy heard the news
that Edward was dead and Harold had assumed
the crown of England, he, furious with rage,
demanded that the vows made to him were paid
but Harold said, “No, the people they choose me
and their king of England I remain to be”.
So William he began to build an army
mightier than any that sailed out to sea;
his fierceness and fury just grew over time,
as he demanded, “England’s crown shall be mine!”
TO BE CONTINUED…
NEXT ON “A DREAM OF ENGLAND
The coming of William the Conqueror and the death of King Harold
