Hateful is the endless lust for power
England feels the pain of civil war
Acephalous are both the King and land
Did Cromwell's actions uphold divine law?
Lord Protector also had it tough
Executed him posthumously
Severed head displayed upon a pole
Silly buggar should have just let be
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Author Notes
Today's word:
acephalous (a.) literally, headless. Used to refer to a state with no leader.
After losing the English Civil War to Oliver Cromwell, King Charles I was tried for High Treason. He was convicted, and executed in January 1649. After this, England became a republic for a decade or so, before the monarchy was restored and control handed to Charles' son, Charles II.
Oliver Cromwell died of natural causes in 1658, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. When the royalists returned to power in 1660, his corpse was exhumed, hung up in chains, and beheaded. His head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685.
My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.
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