The Pleasures of Love A Poem

Catherine of Braganza left her home in Portugal to come to the notoriously licentious court of England to marry the newly restored King, Charles II. Before she left her home, Catherine had rarely been outside the walls of the palaces or the convent where she was educated; she had dreamed of a legendary prince who had been exiled from his court after his father's execution. Charles seemed all that she had thought him to be and she was deeply in love with him. Then came realization, when she was brought abruptly face to face with the true state of affairs and shattered and bewildered she was overcome by despair. She was surrounded by enemies.