The Ballad of Anne

I can hear them all.
They come for me, to deliver me to death.
Soon … soon no burden lays on my soul
And I will rest in peacefulness.
No curse against Henry I say,
nor against my maid, who untrue has been.
The price for my false I will now pay,
for my eagerness, that the court has seen.

As a young woman I’ve woken the Kings interest.
At the ball I danced for him, sophisticated I had spoken.
He wanted me to be his mistress,
but not enough was a mistresses token.
He sang songs to me, wrote letters as of a lover,
hoped with every single one, that I’d agree one day.
But a forsaken mistress would nobody suffer.
So my answer had always been „Nay!”

I’ve been looking for a life without sorrow,
I abused Henrys love for that cause.
A courtesan has no tomorrow.
So I demanded the marriage to the English court.
Even 'gainst Rome the king then rose,
to raise me to be his wife and his queen.
That I’d give him a son, was always his hope.
So I did, but the day my son had never seen.

Our first child then a daughter was born,
we named her Elizabeth.
But not giving birth a successor to the throne
Henry King never forgave.
Quite soon, as the marriage was done,
the kings love had vanished away.
Soon I knew, his love turned to stone
and he cheated on me many a day.

Surely he wished me a devils bane,
when no son was born to his grace.
He openly courted my untrue Jane.
She heard him, her reward was my place
To have broken my marriage, against me was spoken,
with 5 lovers and even my brother too.
The Lord be my witness: The marriage I’ve never broken.
The Lord be my witness: I’ve been never untrue.

I can hear them all.
They come for me, to deliver me to death.
Soon … soon no burden lays on my soul
And I will rest in peacefulness.
For Henry to get his son I pray.
Forgive, my people, the beloved Lady taken by my hands,
as I forgive Henry and the untrue maid.
Soon … soon my suffering ends …

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