The Fall of the Earl of Grace

One last night in the dungeon,

One last night to his fall,

The Earl of Grace was chained in place

To the damp of the dungeon wall.

They’d taken him at the tourney,

The knights of the Duke of Beck,

While the King had turned his face away

As they fettered him by the neck.

 

They’d taken his chain of office,

They’d taken his rings and seal,

The shifting tides of the time had sighed

In showing him what was real,

The King had removed his favour,

The court had looked on askance,

That final fall from a height so high

Was part of the courtly dance.

 

For no-one survived forever,

In that court of grim intrigue,

He’d been aligned with the prince to find

The prince was brought to his knees.

Grace didn’t have the King’s permit

To marry the Lady Grey,

And that, just one of the sins he wore

Conspired to put him away.

 

For Beck was stalking the lady,

The wealth and the lands she had,

Her cold response to his needs and wants

Had driven the Duke quite mad.

The prince, confined to his quarters

Was backing the Earl of Grace,

But once the marriage had come to light

The scandal had brought disgrace.

 

He stood in the dark, and shivered,

In the hour before the dawn,

And watched them setting the gallows up

That would take his quaking form.

Beck had wanted the axe and block

But the King had murmured, ‘No!’

‘I’ll not part him from his noble head,

But I’ll hang him, long and slow!’

 

The hangman came at the dawning,

Was strapping his hands and feet,

While shuffling him to the drop, he said,

‘Hanging an Earl’s a treat!’

And Beck was there to await him,

To whisper his evil spite,

‘You’ll be deep in the earth, while I

Will be with your wife tonight.’

 

They took their time with the halter,

Were seeming to draw it out,

When down in the court a clatter

Of knights, and an awful shout:

‘The King is dead, long live the King,’

As they rescued the Earl of Grace,

Shuffled him off the drop, and then

They hung the Duke in his place.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[ANTO]

"And that, just one of the sins he wore..." - what a beautiful way with words you have David -
"...sins he wore.." - is just a pure master-class.

Hoisted by his own petard - the old Duke eh?

This brought me back to watching that roguish Errol Flynn on a Saturday - hung he was - allegedly.

The quick twist at the very last second was great.

[TPK Stories]

...never expected the king to die...great twist David...

[MomzillaNC]

Another brilliantly executed twist! Your gift with verse is staggering. I just can't get enough of your writing.

[R Smith]

excellent David, another happy ending! I could get used to this, great story, a fitting finale, a pleasure to read as always :)

[Valentine]

Witty and a very sneaky ending. I think in olden times a lot of this must have went on behind the kings back. Loved it..Valentine

[Marie]

Well it's a good thing he didn't get his head chopped off after all. That would have been permanent. A hanging can be stretched out (Pardon the pun.)

[Lyndy]

Oh wow, this is a beautiful piece of writing! I really enjoyed it! :)

[Barbz]

What a Masterful piece of Poetry! Everything that is good about your style, knowledge, humor, intrigue, rhyme, metre , humor and twist is contained here. One of the best I've read, Master. Congrats! Barbz