Wars of the Roses
(c) Shelley Hansen 29-7-15
The history of England is awash with many wars -
it seems the Poms were quick to take up arms for any cause!
But of the battles won and lost, there's one of some renown
when two great rival houses took a fancy to the Crown.
Two newly blooming roses caught the early morning light -
one scarlet as a pool of blood, the other sparkling white.
The Duke of York plucked off the rose as pale as English skin
and it became his emblem of the war he hoped to win.
The blood-red rose of Lancaster defined the other side.
Ignoring all the best advice, they grimly fought and died.
Though life dictates where men are born, from whom they take their name,
this conflict tested loyalties as civil war brought shame.
For hideous and deadly probes were driven deep within
the cloisters of each family, dividing kith and kin.
From murders done in secret, to a crown lost in The Wash -
this field of fortunes would exalt some names, but others - quash!
In time a lovely Maid of York with beautiful blue eyes
was wed to a Lancastrian - and peace became their prize.
A brand new age was dawning as the war drew to a close
and red and white united to become the Tudor Rose!
