Abigail Archer

“Elizabeth’s great talent was to rule, wisely and well, using ambiguity and calculated dithering to fend off enemies when she lacked power. She brought wealth and glory to her country and laid the groundwork for a British empire that would span the globe – and to this day, not as Glorianna but as “Good Queen Bess,” she is loved and revered by her countrymen.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“The poem: I grieve and dare not show my discontent; I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate; I do, yet dare not say I ever meant; I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate. I am, and not; I freeze and yet am burned, Since from myself another self I turned. My care is like my shadow in the sun – Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, Stands, and lies by me, doth what I have done; His too familiar care doth make me rue it. No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it be suppressed. Some gentler passion slide into my mind, For I am soft and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, Love, and so be kind. Let me or float or sink, be high or low; Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I