The crown is his, by right and long descent,
A sovereign sure to wield both law and land;
Yet Parliament’s old gains will not relent,
Though he resolves to govern as he planned.
The realm endures, yet feels the rising strand
Of those who chafe beneath imposed command—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
The ministers, though present at his side,
Now find a king who will not yield or bend;
Authority once shared must now abide—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
Abroad, the colonies begin to strain,
Their murmurs swell where commerce meets the sea;
The distant lands resist the king’s domain,
Yet still he acts to keep them under fee.
The policies he shapes, though firm, may be
The spark that lights the fires he cannot stand—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
Domestic courts observe his firm resolve,
Yet wonder where the line of power lies;
The balance shifts as he attempts to solve
All questions with the steadiness of eyes—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
The empire grows, yet friction spreads at home,
Where colonies contest both law and levy;
The king’s intent to govern as his own
Collides with those who see their rights are heavy.
No subtle hand of ministers can levy
A force to quell the storm at its command—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
The Parliament debates, resistance swells,
While loyalists and rebels take their stand;
A kingdom strained as ancient custom tells—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
Yet even as unrest ignites the shore,
The king maintains his rule with rigid will;
A steady hand, though fraught with threat of war,
Attempts to bind a realm he must fulfill.
The seeds of revolution take their fill,
A distant challenge tests what he has planned—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
And history records both firm command
And fissures in the empire’s once broad span,
As monarch acts where none may countermand—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
So stands the king whose will would shape the seas,
Yet finds the world may not obey the crown;
The rule he takes with discipline and ease
Provokes the sparks that shake his empire down.
A lesson clear: the crown alone may frown,
But subjects’ claims will mark where power lands—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
And from this act the line of executors grows,
From revolution’s flame to future strands,
Where heirs will hold a nation he foreknows—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.
Envoi:
O monarch who would rule both near and far,
Your hand was firm, yet sparks arose to mar;
Though crown is yours, the subjects’ will expands—
He claims the crown with steadfast, measured hand.