Richard by Carol Ann Duffy - The poet laureate’s eulogy

The poet laureate’s eulogy, written for Richard III’s re-interment at Leicester Cathedral, to be read by Benedict Cumberbatch

The coffin of King Richard III stands in Leicester Cathedral ahead of the re-interment of his bones. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

Carol Ann Duffy

Thursday 26 March 2015 - The Guardian

Richard
My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil,
a human braille. My skull, scarred by a crown,
emptied of history. Describe my soul
as incense, votive, vanishing; you own
the same. Grant me the carving of my name.

These relics, bless. Imagine you re-tie
a broken string and on it thread a cross,
the symbol severed from me when I died.
The end of time – an unknown, unfelt loss –
unless the Resurrection of the Dead …

or I once dreamed of this, your future breath
in prayer for me, lost long, forever found;
or sensed you from the backstage of my death,
as kings glimpse shadows on a battleground.