Forever in Chains

Walls surround me as the years pass slowly by

Wonder what I might have been

Battle-slaughter and a kingdom overthrown

Are only shadowy tales for me

My kingly blood, it has condemned me to this fate

I'll never see the light of day again

How I long to have fought with

my brothers side by side

Only death shall end my pain

While kinds and men are slain

As royal buildings rise and fall

These walls shall be my home

I'll be forever in chains

Darkness fills me but my dignity prevails

Prison walls are all I know

History unfolds as I am left behind

Trapped within a web of time

"The nobility of his forebears, his simple manners. His sound views and honourable judgements.

The strength of his body and the fire of his intellect.

Exile, prison, darkness, in closure, chains.

Receive the boy and forsake the old man.

Caught up in human bonds he bore them patiently. Bound even more closely in service to God"

- epitaph of Wulfnoth Godwinson (1036-1094)