"Upon the Double Murder of King Charles In Answer to a Libelous Rhyme made by V.P." is a 17th-century poem by Katherine Philips.
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Historical occasion for the poem
This piece was written by Katherine Philips reportedly in response to "a Libelous Rhyme made by V.P." The "V.P." in question is Vavasor Powell (1617–70), a Noncomformist preacher, member of the Fifth Monarchists, and a writer. The "rhyme" alluded to by Philips is his poem "Of The Late K. Charles of Blessed Memory".
The historical moment which spurred the creation of this piece was the regicide of King Charles I of England in 1649 and the reaction of the populace to his death, specifically the disrespect offered his body and memory by the Parliamentarians.
Katherine Philips' political situation
Katherine Philips is often associated with a class of poets termed Royalist or Cavalier denoting their political sympathy to the Royalist cause, those who supported the monarchy of King Charles I of England during the English Civil War and the following English Interregnum.
However, while Philips is often classified among these writers, throughout the English Civil War and the English Interregnum she generally kept a relatively neutral political tone in her writings. This is a result of her close relationships with both Royalists and Parliamentarians. On one hand, she was very close to her "Society of Friendship," a very tight knit group of Philips' friends which was composed of almost exclusively Royalist writers. However, her husband James Philips, was a prominent Parliamentarian. Following the Restoration in 1660, Philips turned more towards Royalist writing in hopes of improving her husband's political status.
"Upon the Double Murder of King Charles" is a more politically minded piece than many of her others from this time period; however, her political ambivalence is manifest in it still in her opening lines which explain that, "I think not on the state, nor am concerned/Which way soever that great helm is turned," and again later when she criticizes not only the Parliamentarians, or "ignoble enemies," but also the Royalists, King Charles's "unfaithful friends."
Significance
This poem is significant in that through it Philips is entering the realm of British politics. She was one of the first women to do so through literature. In line 6 she speaks of breaking nature's laws, which is referring to her breaking the norms of woman's silence in things political. She suggests that the Parliamentarian's rejection and overthrow of Charles I is enough to justify her in breaching "nature's laws."
In line 17 she says that the heathen would sorrow at the fall of Charles I. She is implying that the heathen is more Christian than the Puritan Parliamentarian, for the Parliamentarians showed no such sorrow or remorse, but rather slandered and libeled the fallen king.