Elizabeth I Quotes

“Elizabeth wrote poetry of her own, on subjects ranging from her captivity in the Tower to meditations on fortune, a wry couplet on fate, and a comic look at a pet dog. She was an accomplished talent, as seen in this lament for a lost love. It is titled – not necessarily by herself – “On Monsieur’s Departure,”
― 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

“An epitaph, said to have been written by Sir Walter Raleigh, was much quoted: “Here lies the noble Warrior that never blunted sword; Here lies the noble Courtier that never kept his word; Here lies his Excellency that govern’d all the State; Here lies the Lord of Leicester that all the world did hate.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“Elizabeth reviewed the troops at Tilbury, an inspiration atop a spirited steed with her chin high and hair tossed by a breeze. She told them she had every confidence in them and in their brave, upstanding commander. What was more, she had confidence in herself. “I know that I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king,” she declared. The troops cheered wildly. “What fear was, I never knew,” she told Parliament later.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“Many options were presented to Elizabeth for the partition of the Low Countries, but she resisted lending the weight of the English Crown to any of them. This might seem an odd stance, if only because history would eventually see Elizabeth as the grandmother of British imperialism. However, it neatly expressed Elizabeth’s own beliefs. “It may be thought simplicity in me that all this time of my reign I have not sought to advance my territories and enlarge my dominions; for opportunity hath served me to do it,” she said upon dissolving the Parliament of 1593. “And I must say, my mind was never to invade my neighbors, or usurp over any; I am contented to reign over mine own.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“Elizabeth wasn’t fearless, but she wasn’t timid, either. She lived much of her life with the threat of assassination, and her response was to sleep with a sword under her pillow: She wouldn’t die without putting up a fight.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“Elizabeth often remarked, a sovereign’s power often looked greater from the outside than to the person who wielded it.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“As the procession approached the Tower, she mused: “Some have fallen from being Princes of this land to be prisoners in this place; I am raised from being prisoner in this place to be Prince of this land. That dejection was a work of God's justice; this advancement is a work of His mercy.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“Thomas Seymour was executed on March 20, 1549. By some accounts, Elizabeth remarked, “This day died a man with much wit and very little judgment.” Unfortunately, she didn’t say it.”
― Abigail Archer, Elizabeth I

“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