The Life & Wives of Henry VIII

Birth in royal house,

A spare, not heir, unaware,

Destiny awaits.

Youthful king ascends,

Hope and joy in kingdom bloom,

Golden age begins.

Catherine, his first queen,

Marriage of diplomacy,

No heir, love declines.

Anne Boleyn bewitched,

Church severed, Pope defied,

England's faith reformed.

Jane Seymour, true love,

At last, a son to carry,

Her life paid the price.

Cleves' Anne, a mistake,

Politics and looks mismatched,

Their union dissolved.

Catherine Howard, young,

Her betrayal, cold treason,

Executed too.

Catherine Parr, wise grace,

She survives, final wife,

Henry's reign of love.

War, alliances,

Jousts and battles fill his days,

Kingdom in turmoil.

Obesity, gout,

Deteriorating health,

The king’s pain persists.

A once-great king fades,

Legacy endures, as does

His tangled love tale.

Wives, church, and conquest,

Henry’s life, a tapestry,

Woven through the years.