The play is o'er! Great Wolsey's dead--
That scarlet power once England's dread;
And lustful Henry's brutal sin
Hath slain the noble Catharine,--
More stainless wife was never wed.
Anne Boleyn shares the royal bed
And wears upon her graceless head
The good queen's crown without chagrin--
The play is o'er!
A few brief months have swiftly sped,
The faithless consort's blood is shed.
What means the mighty noise within?
The trumpet's blare, the cymbal's din?
Jane Seymour's to the altar led,--
The play is o'er!