Lady Godiva

A poem for kids, by Paul Perro

Leofric was a rich man
And he lived in Coventry.
His wife was Lady Godiva
And she was as kind as could be.
 
Godiva said to her husband one day
“It’s a terrible thing I’m sure
That we have so much money
While everyone else is poor.
 
Perhaps we can give some money away
To help the hungry and needy.
We can keep a little bit for ourselves
But I think we should stop being greedy.”
 
Her husband laughed and said “My dear,
Stay away from my moneybox!
You wouldn’t last five minutes
If we couldn’t afford your fine frocks.”
 
Godiva thought for a while then said,
“Let us both take oaths
That we will give our money away
If I can prove I don’t need clothes.”
 
The next day she got on her horse
And let down her long hair.
Nobody could believe what they saw,
Godiva was totally bare.
 
“We must avert our eyes” said one,
“Or else it would be rude.
It’s not polite to stare at a lady
When she is in the nude.”
 
A couple of soldiers passing by
Announced that they would shoot
Anyone who looked at Godiva
In her birthday suit.
 
So everybody looked away
Apart from Peeping Tom.
He had a sneaky peak and saw
Lady Godiva’s bum.
 
When Godiva got back home
Her husband said “I guess
We’ll have to give our money away.
You’ve proved you don’t need your dress”



The legend has it that Godiva placed a bet with her husband, the lord, that if she rode naked through the town, he would reduce taxes for the commoners. Historians now think it more likely that "naked" just meant dressed plainly and without her jewelry on. The Peeping Tom character was added to the legend centuries later.