Louis Xiv (1638-1715)the Sun King Of France Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Louis the fourteenth was the King of France
For over seventy years, big role, small frame
Aged only four, an early start to fame

When he was 22, he took a wife
A Spanish princess who was his first cousin
And afterwards without a twinge of guilt
Had mistresses a-plenty by the dozen

He fathered thirteen children outside marriage
He loved to dance, a boyish Primadonna
Performed in eighty roles in forty ballets
Dance for the king was blissful as nirvana

Versailles became his palace, central power
Seven hundred rooms, the courtiers lived within
A fashionista, he wore red high heels
His coffin, when he died, was set with jewels

But most unhealthy, Louis was afflicted
With weeping periostitis, diabetes
With dental abscesses, gout, fainting spells,
Recurring boils, with gangrene at the finish

His favourite lover, Madame Montespan
Was given her own château, and a staff
Hundreds of gardeners, to trim the grounds
Who in one springtime, grew eight thousand daffs

He owned one thousand wigs, four hundred beds
Le Petit Roi was five feet four inch tall.
With wigs and platform soles for elevation
He stood at seven foot high, this monarch small

He sentthe "Filles du Roi", named the King's Daughters
French women sent to Canada's"New France'…
Each lady had a trousseau and dowry
To wed and settle in that wild expanse

He persecuted slaves, he outlawed Jews
He persecuted Protestants as well

He traded with the Orient and bought
Asian textiles, porcelains, très belle

In 1848, the Sun King's heart
Preserved in a locket, wonderfully created
Was gifted to the Dean of Westminster,
Who popped it in his mouth and duly ate it