Creative Exercise:

My Lord and King,

The honour you bestow upon me, a mere knight’s daughter, by your attention to me makes my poor heart both leap with pleasure and shiver with fear. Who am I to warrant such favour? How can so grand a king take notice of one such as me? I assure you of my love and devotion as any subject in your realm would have toward your Majesty, and I humbly pray you to accept me as your loving servant. My esteemed father has served your Grace for these many years, and I beg your Grace to understand that I, his loyal daughter, would do nothing less. I have been brought up by those who have instilled honour and fear of God in my being, whose rigor has become mine own, and I would as such offer unto you a pure heart filled with love and duty to her king. To converse with you, to dance with you, yea, to put my trembling hand into your kingly hand gives me great pleasure, for I could never have supposed that your majestic royal sun would deign to shine on my delicate pale moon. You do bring me forth as a light in the star filled sky and for that I am grateful.  And so it is my greatest wish that, by daily proofs you shall me find, to be to you both loving and kind. 

Written with the hand of her that is most bound to be, your humble servant, Anne Boleyn

Henry to Anne:

On turning over in my mind the contents of your last letters, I have put myself into great agony, not knowing how to interpret them, whether to my disadvantage, as you show in some places or to my advantage, as I understand them in some others, beseeching you earnestly to let me know expressly your whole mind as to the love between us two. It is absolutely necessary for me to obtain this answer, having been for a whole year stricken with the dart of love, and not yet sure whether I shall fail of finding a place in your heart and affection, which last point has prevented me for some time past from calling you my mistress; because if you only love me with an ordinary love, that name is not suitable for you, because it denotes a singular love, which is far from common. But if you please do the office of a true royal mistress and friend, and to give up yourself body ad heart to me, who will be, and have been, your most loyal servant, (if your rigor does not forbid me) I promise you that not only the name shall be given you, but also that I will take you as my only mistress, calling off all others besides you out of my thoughts and affections, and serve you only.  I beseech you to give an entire answer to this my rude letter, that I may know on what and how far I may depend. And if it does not please you to answer me in writing, appoint some place where I may have it by word of mouth, and I will go thither with all my heart. No more, for fear of tiring you. 

Written by the hand of him who would willingly remain yours, H.R. 

  My Lord and king,

While it does surely honor me for you to name yourself my servant, it is much seemlier, I think, for me to be yours. A king is no one’s servant but God’s, but a subject is, by law and custom, a servant to a king. Especially, sir, to one as good as you are.  It is therefore much more a comfort to me to serve you then to entertain the notion of you serving me. Only as such is it meet for me to touch your fingers in the Cinque Pas, as we have done when I was at court. As I am not your queen, or even a royal person, but only a lady at your court, it does me a great honor to be chosen to dance with you before all assembled. It is indeed my great pleasure to serve you. 

Written with the hand of her that is most bound to be, your humble servant, Anne Boleyn

Henry to Anne:

Though it is not fitting for a gentleman to take his lady in the place of a servant, yet, complying with your desire, I willingly grant it you, if thereby you can find yourself less uncomfortable in the place chosen by yourself, than you have been in that which I gave you, thanking you cordially that you are pleased still to have some remembrance of me. 

 Henry R.

My Lord and King

My lady mother keeps me quite occupied here at Hever. I trust my father and my dear brother are pleasing you with their duties to their king, and I pray them long to continue at your Majesty’s pleasure. They send us news of the court and the dancing and the gaiety that passes there of an evening, with your Majesty and the Queen enjoying it heartily. A. Boleyn

Henry to Anne:

Although, my Mistress, it has not pleased you to remember the promise you made me when I was last with you—that is, to hear good news from you, and to have an answer to my last letter; yet it seems to me that it belongs to a true servant (seeing that otherwise he can know nothing) to inquire the health of his mistress, and to acquit myself of the duty of a true servant, I send you this letter, beseeching you to apprise me of your welfare, which I pray to God may continue as long as I desire mine own. And to cause you yet oftener to remember me, I send you, by the bearer of this, a buck killed late last night by my own hand, hoping that when you eat it you may think of the hunter; and this for want of room, I must end my letter, written by the hand of your servant, who very often wishes for you instead of your brother. H.R.   

  My lord and friend,

As your Grace knows it is far more prudent for me to be removed from the attentions of those at court and remain in safety and in good health here at Hever. Time does indeed pass slowly, much more slowly, I am sure, than where you are, among your gentlemen and the many visitors that come before you. If, as you say, fortune would have it that I stand by your side as your loving wife, then I will count the days until I may return to London and take my place next to you. It is hope that leads us, and with hope we are God’s sons and daughters surely, for God has put us here to do our best and to achieve his will. A. Boleyn

Henry to Anne:

My MISTRESS and FRIEND, my heart and I surrender ourselves into your hands, beseeching you to hold us commended to your favor, and that by absence your affection for us may not be lessened: for it were a great pity to increase our pain, of which absence produces enough, and more than I could ever have thought to be felt, reminding us of a point in astronomy which is this: the longer the days are the more distant the sun, and nevertheless the hotter; so it is with our love, for by absence we are kept a distance from one another, and yet it retains its fervor, at least on my side; I hope the like on yours, assuring you that on my part the pain of absence is already too great for me; and when I think of the increase of that which I am forced to suffer, it would be almost intolerable, but for the firm hope I have of your unchangeable affection for me, and to remind you of this sometimes, and seeing that I cannot be personally present with you, I now send you the nearest thing I can to that, namely, my picture set in a bracelet,  with the whole of the device, which you already know, wishing myself in their place, if it should please you. 

This is from the hand of your loyal servant and friend, H.R. 

My lord and friend,

I am delighted beyond measure to receive your gift of your picture and do heartily beg for your forgiveness if I have not been properly appreciative of your goodness to me in the past. In return, I have had made, by a local craftsman, this small jewel, which I send unto you as a token of my heartfelt affection and love for you. As you can see, I send you a damsel on a ship, wrought in gold with a diamond as the North Star upon which she gazes as she is being tossed about. I, your Grace, am that damsel, and you are the North Star I look upon for guidance in the turmoil of the cruel world we live in. I know that the time will come for us despite the animosities that our desires have brought forth. I give my heart to your guiding light as we navigate these turbulent seas. Yours in heart and soul, Anne Boleyn

Henry to Anne:

For a present so beautiful that nothing could be more so, (considering the whole of it), I thank you most cordially , not only on account of the fine diamond and the ship in which the solitary damsel is tossed about, but chiefly for the fine interpretation and the too humble submission which your goodness has used toward me in this case; for I think it would be very difficult for me to find an occasion for me to  deserve it, if I were not assisted by your great humanity and favor, which I have always sought to seek, and will seek to preserve by all the kindness in my power, in which my hope has placed its unchangeable intention, which says, Aut illic, aut nullibi.

The demonstrations of your affection are such, the beautiful mottos of your letter so cordially expressed, that they oblige me to honor, love and serve you sincerely, beseeching you to continue in the same firm and constant purpose, assuring you that, on my part, I will surpass it rather than make it reciprocal, if loyalty of heart and desire to please you can accomplish this. 

I beg, also, if at any time before this I have in any way offended you, that you would give me the same absolution that you ask, assuring you that henceforth my heart shall be dedicated to you alone. I wish my person was, too. God can do it, if He pleases, to whom I pray every day for that end, hoping that at length my prayers can be heard. I wish the time may be short, but I will think it long till we see one another.

Written by the hand of that secretary, who in heart, body and will, your loyal and most assured Servant. H aultre A.B ne cherche R     

Henry,

I ache for the touch of your fingers upon my face, my little neck, my shoulders and…lower I dare not go for want of the great pleasure of your nearness. Would that the time for us be at hand! Our bodies yearn for closeness, for their mutual warmth and touch. I beg you to make haste with our design so that we can delve deeply into each other as lovers are meant to do. To keep my thoughts occupied and pure before God, I am busy preparing our home for your visit, making everything ready for your pleasure and comfort here with us. My lady mother is, at my direction, at this moment preparing the comfits you so love, so that our time together will be as sweet as the nectar in the roses here at Hever.   Anne

Henry to Anne:

Mine own Sweetheart, this shall be to advertise you of the great elengeness that I find here since your departing; for I assure you methinketh the time longer since your departing now last, than I was wont to do a whole fortnight. I think your kindness and my fervency of love causeth it; for, otherwise, I would not have thought it possible that for so little a while it should have grieved me. But now that I am coming towards you, methinketh my pains be half removed; and also I am right well comforted in so much that my book maketh substantially for my matter; in looking whereof I have spent above four hours this day, which causeth me now to write the shorter letter to you at this time , because of some pain in my head; wishing myself (especially an evening) in my sweetheart’s arms, whose pretty dukkys I trust shortly to kiss.

Written by the hand of him that was, is, and shall be yours by his own will, H.R.